Department of Health and Social Care

Osteoporosis: Fractures

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent osteoporosis breaks; and what drugs are available from the NHS for people with that condition reduce the risk of repeat fractures.

Steve Brine: In 2012, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published best practice clinical guidance on assessing the risk of fragility fracture. It aims to provide guidance on the selection and use of risk assessment tools in the care of adults at risk of fragility fractures in all National Health Service settings. The guidance recommends that clinicians consider assessment of fracture risk in all women aged 65 years and over and all men aged 75 years and over. Women aged less than 65 years and men aged less than 75 years should be considered for assessment in the presence of certain risk factors, such as a family history of hip fracture or low body mass index. The guidance can be found at the following link: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg146 There are a number of therapies and treatments available for the prevention of fragility fractures in people who are assessed as being at risk, or to prevent further fractures in those who have already had one or more fragility fractures. Drugs available to help maintain bone density include: bone sparing agents, such as bisphosphonates; calcium and vitamin D supplements; and certain hormone based treatments. Locally commissioned fracture liaison services (FLS) can also play a key role in reducing the risk of fracture in patients. These services systematically and proactively identify patients in secondary and/or primary care who have suffered a fragility fracture and assess the patient’s risk of future fragility fracture in a timely fashion. FLS then provide advice and/or therapy to reduce that risk. There is good evidence that these services are cost-effective and can result in a reduction in the incidence of fragility fractures in the local population. NHS England has developed a Falls and Fragility Fractures Pathway in partnership with Public Health England and the National Osteoporosis Society, as part of its Rightcare programme. Rightcare highlights the high value interventions that systems should focus on to address variation, improve outcomes, reduce cost and contribute toward a sustainable NHS. More information about the pathway can be found at the following link: www.england.nhs.uk/rightcare/products/pathways/falls-and-fragility-fractures-pathway/

Mental Health Services: Drugs

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to prevent illicit drugs being brought into secure mental health wards.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Operating safe, therapeutic and clinically effective services is the responsibility of service providers to manage in accordance with best practice. NHS England’s national service specifications for adult medium and low secure mental health services reinforce the importance of procedural, physical and relational security to address such matters. For high secure services, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care issues specific Directions to providers regarding the way they must manage their security arrangements. These arrangements cover illicit substances.

Surgical Mesh Implants

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people experiencing after-effects as a result of surgical mesh implants.

Jackie Doyle-Price: To help deliver improved support to women, 18 trusts in England and one in Scotland have declared themselves as having the right multi-disciplinary teams and experience to provide advice and treatment or onward referral for women with complications following surgery involving mesh. In addition, in England the national specialised commissioning team will shortly be consulting on a number of service specifications that cover specialised women’s surgery, which includes mesh insertion and removal. Once the specification has been agreed NHS England will commission specific centres for complex mesh removal where women have experienced significant complications from their treatment with mesh. A key requirement for all services will be a multidisciplinary team to support women to understand the options available to them and to access expert care required for their individual circumstances.

Organs: Transplant Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have undergone an organ transplant in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Since the launch of the United Kingdom-wide ‘Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020 Strategy’ in July 2013, organ donation rates have increased by 19% and transplant rates by 15% mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure (e.g. increased specialist nurses, improved retrieval arrangements). In 2017-18, the UK had the highest ever deceased donor and transplant rates. The number of transplants (including living and deceased donations) performed in the UK for each of the five years is set out below: 2017/18 – 4,969*2016/17 – 4,7532015/16 – 4,6012014/15 – 4,4312013/14 – 4,655 Note: *provisional figures, subject to change.

Homeopathy

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to control and monitor the use of homeopathy.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Homeopathic medicinal products are regulated under medicines legislation. Homeopathic medicinal products are currently either registered under the Simplified Scheme which was introduced in 1992 by European Directive 92/73/EC (amended by Directive 2001/83/EC) or authorised under the National Rules Scheme which was introduced in 2006 allowing the marketing of homeopathic medicines with a limited range of indications in accordance with the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.

NHS England: Complaints

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a strategy document on steps to improve the responsiveness of NHS England to complaints; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is taking a range of actions to ensure that complaints made to it as a commissioner of a range of NHS services are timely and of a good quality. NHS England has published a Complaints Policy which sets out how they manage, respond to and learn from complaints, and also a Quality Framework, which is based on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s report ‘My Expectations’. NHS England has also recently introduced a peer review process to monitor compliance with the Complaints Policy and Quality Framework. Key Performance Indicators relating to acknowledgment and response have been developed and are monitored and reported on a monthly basis.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 have been released in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Mental Health Services: Gambling

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of IAPT services for the treatment of people with problem gambling disorders.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Over 900,000 people now access Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services each year, and the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health includes our commitment to expand services further to see a further one million more people treated for mental health problems every year by 2020. Although problem gambling is not listed amongst the provisional diagnosis categories that IAPT treats, IAPT practitioners would be able to treat common mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety which may affect people with gambling problems. A new version of the IAPT dataset is being developed and it is intended that gambling problems will be recorded in the revised dataset. This would enable us to better assess the impact of IAPT services on people with gambling problems. People who experience problems with gambling can access services in primary care and secondary care including specialised mental health and addiction services. There are a range of services available details of which can be found on the NHS Choices website. For example, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust has a national problem gambling clinic which accepts referrals from all over the United Kingdom including those with mental health problems.

NHS: South Tyneside

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse for NHS services in South Tyneside in each of the last five years.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England publishes clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations on its website. The published CCG allocations for NHS South Tyneside CCG for the past five years for core services are set out in the following table. It should be noted that these figures do not include allocations for primary medical care or specialised services and that these figures are as published, and may not reflect any adjustments that have occurred since the time of publication. Furthermore, allocations for 2017/18 are not strictly comparable with those of earlier years as a number of changes have been made to CCG baselines. NHS South Tyneside CCGAllocation (£000s)2013-14222,9132014-15227,6832015-16238,6972016-17242,5252017-18245,116

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS Foundation Trusts hospital car parks in England are operated by (a) private parking companies and (b) Foundation Trusts.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS Foundation Trusts in England operate cashless only hospital car park charging facilities.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS hospital received the largest income from hospital car parking charges in England in (a) 2014-2015, (b) 2015-2016 and (c) 2016-2017.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS hospitals in England charge blue badge holders the full rate for parking a car at their car parks.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not collected centrally. The National Health Service trusts are responsible for the actions of any private contractor they may employ to manage their hospital car parking service. All the available data on car parking in NHS trusts in England is collected annually through Estates Return Information Collection, published at the following link: http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/ERIC.asp Patient-Led Assessments of the Care Environment data is published at the following link: http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/PLACE.asp

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many parking spaces there are in NHS Foundation Trust hospital parking facilities in England.

Stephen Barclay: National Health Service car parking data is collected annually through Estates Return Information Collection (ERIC). The latest ERIC data for 2016-17 shows that there are 282,940 parking spaces available at foundation trusts. All ERIC data for all trusts in England is published at: http://hefs.hscic.gov.uk/ERIC.asp

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2018 to Question 131749 on Hospitals: Parking, when his Department last reviewed its 2015 guidance on NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking.

Stephen Barclay: The Department keeps its 2015 guidance on National Health Service patient, visitor and staff car parking under review. NHS organisations have the autonomy to make decisions locally on the provision of charges and how car parking is managed for patients, visitors and staff, taking account of their local circumstances.

Abortion

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of the availability of appointments for abortions in NHS hospital settings for women with complex medical conditions.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department is aware of concerns over the availability of appointments for women with complex conditions seeking an abortion and is working with NHS England and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to ensure that such women receive timely access to high quality abortion care.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2018 to Question 133056 on social services: minimum wage, how many and what proportion of providers enrolled in the Social Care Compliance Scheme responded to the (a) Deloitte and (b) Frontier Economics and Laing Buisson study on sleep-in back-pay liabilities.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held. No data that would identify providers has been shared with any Government department from the Deloitte or the Frontier Economics and LaingBuisson studies.

Health Services: Finance

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £1.6 billion announced in Autumn Budget 2017 for allocation in 2018-19 has been used to commission services from (a) NHS Trusts and (b) independent healthcare providers.

Stephen Barclay: The information requested is not available. Clinical commissioning groups can commission any service provider that meets National Health Service standards and costs. These can be NHS hospitals, social enterprises, charities or private sector providers. However, they must be assured of the quality of services they commission, taking into account both National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and the Care Quality Commission's data about service providers. We are clear that patients should be able to access the best possible treatments based on quality of care not the provider. The £1.6 billion for 2018-19 will increase funding for emergency and urgent care, and elective surgery.

Respite Care

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether respite care is a health service or a social care.

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether clinical commissioning groups have a statutory duty to provide respite care.

Caroline Dinenage: Respite care may be commissioned as either a social care or a health service. A clinical commissioning group has a duty under section 3 of the NHS Act 2006 to arrange for the provision of health services to the extent it considers necessary to meet the reasonable needs of the persons for whom it has responsibility, including services for the care of persons suffering from illness, and the after-care of persons who have suffered from illness, and this could include respite care.

Accountable Care Organisations

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NHS England plans to launch its consultation on Accountable Care Organisations.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on its planned consultation on Accountable Care Organisations.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that no Accountable Care Organisation (ACO) contract is awarded until the NHS England consultation on ACOs has been completed.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2018 to Question HL5353, for what reasons the consultation on the contracting arrangements for Accountable Care Organisations was not launched in March 2018.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England has decided that the consultation on the draft Accountable Care Organisations (ACO) Contract will not be launched until two ongoing Judicial Reviews have been concluded. This will allow the Department and NHS England to take into account the outcome of both challenges. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Chief Executive of NHS England regularly meet to discuss to discuss a broad range of NHS England policy issues, of which the ACO policy is one of them. The Department has been clear that it does not expect any contracts to be signed prior to this consultation concluding. Furthermore, the Department has been clear that it will not make the necessary Directions or lay the proposed regulations until NHS England has completed this consultation.

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 20 March 2018, to question 132755 on NHS Finance, how much money will be reprioritised from his Department's budget to provide extra funding for the NHS in 2018-19; and what that money was previously allocated to.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 1.2 of Refreshing NHS Plans for 2018/19, published by NHS England and NHS Improvement on 2 February 2018, from which of his Department’s budgets he is making a further £540 million available to the NHS through the Mandate; and if he will make statement.

Stephen Barclay: The additional £540 million will be made available by the Department from the increase in the migrant surcharge, other income, and some reprioritisation within its own Departmental budget. NHS England will receive this funding through the Mandate in 2018-19, and will invest it in core frontline services such as mental health and primary care. The business planning process looked at the prioritisation of the Departmental budget. Whilst most of the additional funding into NHS England is being funded through additional income in 2018-19, the majority of the remainder has been found through the removal of contingencies in administration budgets and demand led budgets, ensuring that available funding is prioritised to support frontline National Health Service activity.

Fractures: Older People

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many falls among people aged 65 and over led to a hospital admission in each year since 2009-10; and what the five most frequent types of such falls resulting in such admissions were.

Stephen Barclay: A count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) for patients aged 65 and over which have been classified as having been caused by a fall is shown in the following table. These are for the financial years 2009-10 through to 2016-17. This is a count of admissions, not patients, as the same patient may have been admitted on more than one occasion within the time period:Financial yearCount of FAEs2009-10274,1032010-11295,1362011-12309,6682012-13259,6692013-14266,6492014-15282,7192015-16291,5312016-17294,559Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital The five most frequent specified types of falls which have resulted in admissions for patients aged 65 and over in the financial years 2009-10 through to 2016-17 are below:- Fall on the same level from slipping, tripping and stumbling;- Other fall on the same level;- Fall on and from stairs and steps;- Fall involving bed; and- Fall involving chair.

Fractures

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) length and (b) cost to the public purse was of a finished admission episode for people admitted to hospitals with fragility fractures in each of the last five years.

Stephen Barclay: The requested data is not held centrally.

Care Homes: Finance

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent representations he has received from care home operators on their financial viability.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent representations he has received from care home operators in West Sussex on their future financial viability.

Caroline Dinenage: We have received two letters from care providers who operate in West Sussex. The Department receives representations from care providers on a regular basis on a number of issues and we work with providers through the Care Provider Alliance to consider targeted action to address the issues. The Government continues to engage with the care sector, including care providers, to understand their concerns about their financial viability and the sustainability of services.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information he holds on the number of bed days that were lost due to delayed transfers of care in Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust in 2017.

Caroline Dinenage: There were 22,772 delayed transfer of care bed days at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust during 2017. NHS England publishes information on the number of delayed transfers of care on a monthly basis. This is available at individual trust and national level via their Statistical Work Areas webpages and can be accessed via the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/delayed-transfers-of-care

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what change there was in the level of emergency admissions of older people between 2013-14 and 2016-17 in the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Stephen Barclay: NHS Digital’s Hospital Episode Statistics show that between the financial years 2013-14 and 2016-17, there was an increase in emergency finished admission episodes at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust for patients aged 65 and over of 1,914 (an increase of 9.9%). This is a count of admissions, not patients, as the same person may have more than one admission within the time period.

Mental Health: Children

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commission within this Parliament research into the effect on children's mental health of living with (a) income poverty, (b) debt, (c) poor housing and (d) in circumstances in which one or more adults have mental health problems.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has commissioned NHS Digital to undertake a Children and Young People’s Mental Health Survey to examine the prevalence of mental disorders. The survey report is expected to be published in autumn 2018. The report is planned to include estimates of prevalence of mental health conditions in relation to parents’ household income and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. The Index of Multiple Deprivation combines information from seven domains to produce an overall relative measure of deprivation. The domains are:- Income Deprivation;- Employment Deprivation;- Education, Skills and Training Deprivation;- Health Deprivation and Disability;- Crime;- Barriers to Housing and Services; and- Living Environment Deprivation. The report is also planned to include information on children and young people’s mental health prevalence in relation to parental scores on the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12), which is designed to screen for general mental health conditions (non-psychotic psychiatric morbidity).

Department for Work and Pensions

Housing Benefit: Young People

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pension, what estimate she has made of the cost incurred by (a) Jobcentre Plus, (b) her Department and (c) any other public agency in the preparation for the roll-out of the now aborted cut to housing benefit for 18-21 year olds.

Kit Malthouse: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 18 April 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The preparation costs associated with the removal of the automatic eligibility of 18 to 21 year olds to claim universal credit for housing costs are estimated to be £5£3 million.

Kit Malthouse: The preparation costs associated with the removal of the automatic eligibility of 18 to 21 year olds to claim universal credit for housing costs are estimated to be £5£3 million.

Universal Credit: Internet

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the provision of universal credit as a primarily digital service will affect the job security of Jobcentre staff.

Alok Sharma: Jobcentre staff are a core part of the support provided for those in receipt of Universal Credit and other benefits. The Universal Credit digital service provides an interactive and accessible system for claimants to manage their own data and account online at a time which is convenient for them. This means that many administrative tasks are now automated, giving Work Coaches more time to add value in their community. Work Coaches are able to focus on providing tailored support to claimants; helping them in to work, to progress in work, or bringing them closer to the labour market by removing barriers to employment. It is important that all claimants can benefit from a dedicated Work Coach, no matter what their circumstances. This is why we continue to ensure that claimants can access face-to-face support in a Jobcentre, as well as enabling claimants to interact with their Work Coach online, such as through their digital journal.

Employment and Support Allowance

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure disabled people in receipt of employment and support allowance do not face repeated work capability assessments when they move to a Universal Credit full-service area.

Sarah Newton: A claimant should not be referred for a Work Capability Assessment just because he or she has moved from Employment Support Allowance (ESA) to Universal credit (UC).

Jobcentres: Security

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to re-evaluate the security of staff in jobcentres as a result of recent trends in the level of knife crime.

Kit Malthouse: The Department takes the safety of our staff and customers extremely seriously. All of our security control measures are under constant review, and every incident is carefully analysed to identify any weaknesses exposed. We are very aware of the increased threat of knife crime, and the staff of our security partners G4S are trained to recognise the potential threats and respond accordingly.

Jobcentres: Crimes of Violence

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many violent incidents leading to arrests there have been at jobcentres in (a) the UK and (b) Nottinghamshire in the last (i) one, (ii) three and (iii) five years.

Kit Malthouse: The Department for Work and Pensions takes any form of abuse and harassment of its staff by customers and claimants very seriously. Where necessary the police are called to aid in the management of a situation. However, the Department does not routinely record whether this subsequently leads to arrest.

Jobcentres: Crimes of Violence

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many violent incidents involving knives there have been at jobcentres in (a) the UK and (b) Nottinghamshire in the last (i) one (ii) three and (iii) five years.

Kit Malthouse: In the year to March 2018 incidents reported through the Department’s Serious Incident (Fast Track) Reporting process identified 11 incidences where knives were brought into our offices, whether to threaten, harm or self-harm. For the three year period April 2015 to March 2018 there were 28 identified and for the five year period April 2013 to March 2018 the total is 49. No Nottinghamshire sites are included in the figures above. Robust controls are in place to mitigate the risk of unacceptable customer behaviour (UCB) and eliminate violent incidents as far as reasonably practicable; including security presence, risk assessments and training for our staff. We review outcomes of our most serious incidents and consider any lessons learned to make improvements to our processes and training when necessary to help prevent reoccurrence.

Department for Work and Pensions: Mobile Phones

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what apps his Department has approved for use on mobile phones issued by his Department.

Kit Malthouse: Due to national security concerns it would be inappropriate to publicly supply a list of applications approved for use on mobile phones issued by the Department, as to do so facilitates attacks against official systems by hostile actors.

Vacancies: Internet

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of jobs listed on Universal Jobmatch are open to (a) part-time or flexible hours and (b) full-time hours.

Kit Malthouse: On 26/04/2018, there were 139,590 adverts live on Universal Jobmatch. 93,123 (66.7%) of these were recorded as being for full time vacancies, and 21,235 (15.2%) were recorded as being for part-time vacancies. 25,223 (18.1%) of adverts were recorded as ‘unknown’. This data relates to how the vacancies are advertised on UJ; it is not possible to identify jobs which are advertised as part time but available extend to full time or vice versa. It is also not possible to identify jobs with flexible working hours, as this is not recorded in Universal Jobmatch.

Vacancies: Internet

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support his Department provides to employers on posting part-time vacancies including job share roles on the Universal Jobmatch website.

Kit Malthouse: Universal Jobmatch is a self-service job posting service available to all employers.Employers who require additional support can contact the Employer Services Line on 0800 169 0178 to get practical support and advice about recruitment. This includes technical assistance, advice on the wording of vacancies and signposting to local Jobcentre plus offices. There is also an online “contact us” facility on the website and a Universal Jobmatch employers’ frequently asked questions facility on Gov.uk.

Department for Work and Pensions: Plastics

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to reduce its use of single-use plastics .

Kit Malthouse: The Department’s catering supplier Compass Group UK & Ireland top priority is reducing single-use plastic packaging. They are working closely with their industry partners to stay abreast of the issues and address the challenges, and are working with their suppliers to provide solutions to help our sites reduce single-use plastics and maximise recycling. The Government’s 25 year environment plan outlined a range of measures on how we will reduce the amount of plastic waste in circulation through reducing demand for single use plastic. This included a commitment to removing all single use plastics from the central government estate offices.

Universal Credit: Automated Credit Transfer

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of paying universal credit into a joint bank account on the (a) level of independence of women and (b) balance of power in a relationship between two people sharing such an account.

Alok Sharma: In Universal Credit, couples make a joint claim to Universal Credit. Both are responsible for servicing the claim, and both benefit from the claim. The couple nominates a bank account for their Universal Credit to be paid into, and this can be a joint account or an individual account. The Government believes that people within a household are best placed to make the money management choices that are most appropriate for them and a single payment enables them to do that. A single payment of Universal Credit also enables people in a household clearly to see the effect of their decisions about work on their total household income. In some circumstances, payment of Universal Credit can be divided between two members of the household. This is an Alternative Payment Arrangement known as a Split Payment. Split payments can be made where there is financial mismanagement, domestic abuse, or the inability to budget for the household’s basic day to day needs.

Universal Credit

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations her Department has received from gas and electricity providers on the effect of the introduction of universal credit on levels of debt and arrears; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: We are working closely with utility companies and regularly attend a Utility Company Debt Group to update them on the latest information regarding Universal Credit, its rollout and any changes that may have taken place. These include discussions on deductions and arrears, as well as taking feedback for future improvements to the service we provide for them. The Government has also taken a number of steps to reduce the risk of problem debt, including capping payday lending costs and promoting savings. Within Universal Credit, we have interest free advances and a system of priority deductions to help claimants who have got into arrears. We have successfully implemented a further package of measures announced at the Autumn Budget 2017, such as making advances of up to 100% of the indicative award available to claimants and increasing the repayment period to 12 months, removing the 7 waiting days, providing an additional payment of 2 weeks of Housing Benefit to support claimants when they transition to Universal Credit, and changing how claimants in temporary accommodation receive support for their housing costs.

Universal Credit: Appeals

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who were in receipt of a disability premium and after reaching the age of 20 began claiming Universal Credit have been successful at appeal to be granted the (a) limited capability for work element and (b) limited capability for work related activity element.

Alok Sharma: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's policy is on advising claimants who are appealing decisions on employment support allowance whether to apply for universal credit.

Sarah Newton: Following a decision that an Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimant is found well enough for work and is therefore no longer entitled to ESA, the Department provides information on what benefits might instead be available to them. If a claimant lives in an area where Universal Credit has fully rolled out, they will be informed that they can claim Universal Credit, including whilst making an appeal to the original decision.

Home Office

Home Office: Behavioural Insights Team

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2017 to Question 105522, how much was paid to the Behavioural Insights Team for services relating to each of those policy areas.

Mr Ben Wallace: The work with the Behavioural Insight Team is commercially sensitive, therefore we will not release information on funding.

Home Office: Telephone Services

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which public telephone lines for her Department's services are charged at higher rates; and how much was taken by each such telephone line in the last 12 months.

Victoria Atkins: Across its contact centres the Home Office publishes 24 telephone lines for use by the public. None of these are charged at higher rates.

Refugees

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will lift the requirement that applicants to participate in the Dubs scheme be under 18-years olds at 20 March 2016.

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if the Government will carry out a comprehensive national audit of local authorities that are volunteering to take in unaccompanied refugee children; and if she will make a statement.

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether legal assistance will be provided to unaccompanied children who are seeking to apply to live in the UK under the Dubs scheme.

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children the Government plans to accept into the UK under the Dubs scheme by the end of 2017; and how many of those children will be children with disabilities.

Caroline Nokes: In accordance with section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016, the Government conducted a comprehensive consultation with local authorities across the UK in 2016 to assess capacity for the care of unaccompanied children. Following the consultation, the Government set the specified number for section 67 at 480. This is a one-off commitment. On 2 November the High Court confirmed that the Government’s approach to implementing section 67 was lawful. The Government maintains a continual dialogue with local authorities and Strategic Migration Partnerships. We welcome all offers from local authorities with capacity to look after unaccompanied asylum seeking children and will continue to utilise these offers to fulfil all of our existing commitments, including ensuring a more equal allocation of unaccompanied children across the country through the National Transfer Scheme. The Government is fully committed to transferring 480 unaccompanied children from Europe under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (the ‘Dubs Amendment’). Over 200 unaccompanied children have arrived in the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016. Children have been transferred this year from France under section 67 and transfers are ongoing. On 10 March, the Government published the basis on which further transfers under section 67 will take place: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/632633/Dubs_policy_statement_-_update.pdf. To be eligible, children need to have been present in Europe before 20 March 2016, and it be determined, following individual assessment, that it would be in their best interests to be transferred to the UK. It is for participating Member States to refer children; there is no process for children to lodge an application for consideration under section 67. Member States have been asked to prioritise those likely to qualify for refugee status and the most vulnerable. Vulnerability may include, but is not restricted to UNHCR’s Children at Risk individual risk factors. These risk factors include: child victims of trafficking and sexual abuse; survivors of torture; survivors of violence; and, children with mental or physical disabilities. The primary responsibility for unaccompanied children with the authorities of the Member State in which they are present. The UK cannot operate on the territory of another sovereign nation without a specific request to do so, and this includes providing legal assistance to children not currently on UK territory. Once in the UK, unaccompanied asylum seeking children are placed into the care of local authorities and are provided with specialised legal advice and support which is available from their social worker, the Refugee Council Children’s Panel of Advisors for children in England and the Scottish Guardianship Service for children in Scotland.

Counter-terrorism

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which funding authority is responsible for the installation of (a) rising bollards and (b) other such permanent road furniture designed to prevent terrorist attacks; and what assessment she has made of the potential benefits of establishing a central fund for such installations.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Government provides high quality advice and guidance to the owners and operators of major crowded places through police Counter Terrorism Security Advisors.The costs of protective security measures such as rising bollards or other permanent street furniture, as part of security capabilities installed at a given location fall to the owner, operator or responsible authority under the user pays principle. We will consider as part of the review of Government’s Counter Terrorism Strategy, CONTEST, where it would be appropriate to revise existing approaches.

UK Border Force: Recruitment

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new officials tasked with (a) immigration and (b) customs enforcement duties in backroom functions were recruited in each of the last six months.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not hold this information in the format requested.

UK Border Force: Recruitment

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many new officials tasked with (a) immigration and (b) customs enforcement duties at the UK border were recruited in each of the last six months.

Caroline Nokes: Border Force has recruited 400 officers to work across a range of functions during the period covering 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017. The below table shows the breakdown of new entrants by month.We are unable to show the distribution of officers between immigration and customs duties, this is a local management decision and figures are not held centrally.MonthTotal RecruitsJul-1799Aug-1746Sep-1765Oct-1786Nov-1782Dec-1722Grand Total400

Fireworks

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of complaints received on the use of fireworks in each of the last five years.

Victoria Atkins: The information requested is not held centrally by the Home Office.

Home Office: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which external recruitment agencies are used by her Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Department and NDPBs publish consultancy spend under the transparency agenda. The following consultancy spend for April to June 2017 and for recruitment April to June 2017 are published on the gov.uk website:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-spend-control-data-for-april-to-june-2017

Asylum: Housing

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2017 to Question 113165, what plans her Department has to publish reports on inspections of G4S asylum accommodation by UKVI.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office and its contracted asylum accommodation providers inspect property on a regular basis as part of the existing service delivery and contract management regime. There are no plans to publish the reports from individual property inspections.

Home Office: Flexible Working

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what percentage of employees in her Department worked (a) in departmental accommodation, (b) from home and (c) at any other location in the most recent 12-month period for which data is available.

Victoria Atkins: Home Office staff can work from more than one location and can be required to work in a variety of other accommodation not owned or leased by the Department. The Home Office only records the main building staff are assigned to, this shows that 96% (30,247) were assigned to a Home Office Building. The information on where people work is not held centrally and could only be collated at disproportionate cost.

Money Laundering

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of requests for mutual legal assistance that have been made to foreign jurisdictions to recover criminal assets laundered abroad since 2016.

Mr Ben Wallace: The number of outgoing mutual legal assistance requests for money laundering offences transmitted via the Home Office was 83 in 2016 and 58 in the first half of 2017. The data does not include requests transmitted directly under the EU’s Council Framework Decisions 2003/577/JHA (Freezing Orders) and 2006/783/JHA (Confiscation Orders). Outgoing requests for restraint or confiscation made under the 2003 and 2006 EU Framework decisions are sent by the CPS directly to the relevant EU Member State. Please note that these figures are taken from local management information, and have not been quality assured to the level of published National Statistics. As such they should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.

Hunting Act 2004

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) arrests and (b) convictions were made relating to offences committed under the Hunting Act 2004 in the last two years for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested. The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of arrests for notifiable offences on a financial year basis. The Home Office collects and publishes these data at the offence group level, for example, ‘Sexual offences’ or ‘Miscellaneous crimes against society’. More detailed information on the specific offence or the Act under which the individual is arrested is not collected. Data on the number of arrests are published in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales Information on convictions is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice.

Counter-terrorism

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to commission an independent review of the Prevent strategy.

Mr Ben Wallace: The UK's counter-terrorism strategy 'CONTEST' was last published in 2011. We are reviewing our entire approach to counter-terrorism and will publish a new counter-terrorism strategy. Prevent is being reviewed as part of the wider CONTEST review. The review is focusing on four key areas:o Tackling terrorist ideology;o Denying safe online spaces to terrorist communications and content;o Denying safe spaces in the real world (covering both overseas action and counter-extremism work in the UK); ando Examining CT powers (including sentencing).

Fraud: Older People

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the statutory provisions for combating fraudulent activities and scams aimed at the elderly.

Mr Ben Wallace: Fraud is a heinous crime often affecting the most vulnerable members of society such as the elderly and those who may be susceptible to approaches from fraudsters. Through the Joint Fraud Taskforce the Government is working collaboratively with the police, banks, and national trading standards to implement a series of measures designed to protect vulnerable and susceptible people from becoming victims of fraud, and to provide better care and assistance to those who do become victims. We are committed to measuring the effectiveness of these measures. The Joint Fraud Taskforce has supported the roll-out of the Banking Protocol, through which bank staff are trained to recognise signs that fraud may be taking place in branch. The Banking Protocol guarantees a direct enforcement response and has so far stopped over £16m from getting into criminal hands and led to over 150 arrests. The Taskforce has also supported the development and launch of a Code of Practice for banks which sets minimum standards for the recognition and care of victims of fraud and financial abuse. The Taskforce is working to ensure that all banks adhere to the principles of the Code of Practice and is currently developing this monitoring. The Take Five to Stop Fraud campaign developed by the banks and the Home Office is designed to help encourage the public to protect themselves from fraud and scams, providing advice on specific protective behaviours including around phishing. The campaign was developed jointly by industry, Government experts and the Joint Fraud Taskforce. Take Five has partnered with a number of organisations including Neighbourhood Watch, National Trading Standards and Age UK to ensure awareness is raised amongst older people. The Take Five video advert has been viewed over 13 million times, and millions have engaged with the campaign on social media. The Take Five Week in January generated 108 pieces of coverage and over 160partners supported the week, including law enforcement, and public and private sector partners. Neighbourhood Watch reached over 368,000 members with an e-alert on Take Five, and circulated 100,000 co-branded Take Five window stickers to local co-ordinators.

Immigration: Caribbean

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the number of Windrush citizens who have been (a) denied and (b) charged for NHS treatment; and what steps she is taking together with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to rectify that matter.

Caroline Nokes: Information about individuals who have been denied or charged for NHS treatment is not held by the Home Office. Individuals affected should contact the Home Office. The new team set up will help the applicants to demonstrate that they are entitled to live in the UK and will aim to resolve cases within two weeks when the evidence has been provided. The Home Office will also be setting up a new compensation scheme. We will want to take time to consult on the scope of the new scheme.

Sexual Offences: British Nationals Abroad

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking with her international counterparts to ensure that processes are in place to manage registered sex offenders who have been issued a green notice or been included in an Interpol diffusion when they are travelling outside of the UK.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government is committed to working closely with other countries and international agencies to minimise the risk posed by serious offenders travelling to and from the UK. UK law enforcement authorities flag UK sex offenders and other high-risk individuals to European partners using the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and the National Crime Agency’s Liaison Officers work with countries around the world to ensure host countries can take appropriate action in relation to the highest harm individuals. INTERPOL systems underpin our international law enforcement cooperation with countries outside the EU but decisions on the use of INTERPOL notices are an operational matter for UK law enforcement.

Immigrants: Caribbean

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential long-term trauma and detrimental effects on mental health caused to people affected by the Windrush scandal; and what steps the Government is taking to provide counselling, talking therapies and ongoing support to all those affected and their families.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office has made clear it's commiment to do right by the Windrush generation which is why we have established a dedicated taskforce to help the Windrush Generation and other long-term residents to evidence their right to be in the UK. We will want to take time to consult and think about all areas of compensation but we will put this right.

Home Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of her Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.

Victoria Atkins: During Financial Years 16/17 and 17/18, the Home Office issued 2 invitation to tenders, that attracted no bid responses.

Prostitution

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help reduce the levels of prostitution and to close brothels in the UK.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is committed to tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prositution, and believes that people who want to leave prostitution should be given every opportunity to find routes out.We have provided £389,000 from the Tampon Tax to organisations which help those who want to leave prostitution and sex work, and £650,000 from the Violence Against Women and Girls Service Transformation Fund to Merseyside PCC, to provide a victim-focused service for sex workers who are victims, or at risk of sexual or domestic violence and abuse, exploitation or human trafficking.As set out in our response to the Home Affairs Select Committee, we recognise the need for research into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales. The Home Office has provided £150,000 to fund this research, which will be carried out by the University of Bristol, and will help inform future policy.It is illegal to keep a brothel in England and Wales. Enforcement action is an operational matter for the police, who are in the best position to identify and respond to issues related to prostitution and sex work in their communities. They are supported in this by guidance developed by the National Policing Lead for prostitution.

Home Office: Contracts

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 January 2018 to Question 127777, what factors her Department considers in its monitoring of the financial performance of strategic suppliers.

Victoria Atkins: Monitoring of the financial performance of strategic suppliers is commercially sensitive information and is not therefore to be published.

Fires: Yorkshire and the Humber

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fatalities resulting from fire there were in Yorkshire and the Humber in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not publish fire statistics by government office regions but by Fire and Rescue Authority (FRA) regions.Published figures for fire-related fatalities by FRA can be found in table FIRE0502 here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679603/fire-statistics-data-tables-fire0502.xlsxDefining Yorkshire and the Humber as comprising the Humberside, North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire FRAs, then the fire-related fatalities in each year since 2009/10 were:2009/10 – 452010/11 – 332011/12 – 232012/13 – 152013/14 – 272014/15 – 302015/16 – 472016/17 – 24

Gambling: Crime

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of (a) problem gambling and (b) gambling addiction on acquisitive crime.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office has not undertaken an assessment. The Modern Crime Prevention Strategy published in March 2016 sets out how we analyse and respond to crime through the consideration of six drivers of crime (opportunity, character, effectiveness of the criminal justice system, profit, drugs and alcohol). This includes looking at new and emerging trends in acquisitive crime where we work closely with the police and relevant industry leads. While there are various studies suggesting that the prevalence of gambling is higher in offenders than the general population, the issue of problem gambling and gambling addiction has not been raised as a specific issue during our conversations about acquisitive crime with the police and others.

Sports: Slavery

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the article entitled Premier League to question clubs over trafficking, published by the Times on 23 April 2018, what assessment he has made of the level of risk of child trafficking within the supply chains of Premier League football clubs; and what steps the Government is taking to tackle modern slavery in sport supply chains.

Victoria Atkins: The threat of modern slavery and human trafficking is assessed by the National Crime Agency on a regular basis to inform the National Strategic Assessment. There has not been a specific assessment of the level of risk of child trafficking within the supply chains of Premier League football clubs. Through the Transparency in Supply Chains provisions of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 the Government has introduced a requirement for large businesses, including Premier League football clubs, to publish an annual statement setting out the steps they are taking to prevent and tackle modern slavery in their supply chains. We are currently considering what more can be done on a sector by sector basis to ensure that businesses are taking serious steps to prevent modern slavery. The Government recognises that child victims of modern slavery and trafficking are particularly vulnerable and has committed to the full national roll out of Independent Child Trafficking Advocates as well as allocating £2.2m from the Child Trafficking Protection Fund to deliver tailored support for victims of child trafficking.

Police: Firearms

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to uplift armed policing capability and capacity to respond more quickly and effectively tofirearms attacks.

Mr Ben Wallace: We are providing £144 million over the spending review period to uplift our armed policing capability and capacity, in order to respond more quickly and effectively to a firearms attack. The first phase of the armed uplift is complete, providing an additional 41 Armed Response Vehicles and around 650 armed officers. The next phase - an increase in Counter Terrorism Specialist Firearms Officers - is expected to complete by the end of 2018. Not only are the numbers of specialist armed officers increasing but they are now better trained and equipped to deal with a wider range of terrorist attacks.

Torture

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the High Court Judgment of 10 October 2017, Medical Justice v. Secretary of State, what steps her Department is taking to review the guidance in respect of torture; and with which organisations her Department has consulted on that guidance.

Caroline Nokes: The Government laid draft revised statutory guidance before Parliament on 21 March 2018, and the corresponding statutory instruments on 27 March, to implement a new definition of torture for the purposes of immigration detention. The new definition of torture and the revised statutory guidance give effect to the High Court judgment to which the hon. Member refers. Whilst there was no obligation to consult on these changes, officials have engaged with interested stakeholders, including a range of non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) and inspectorate bodies. Officials will continue this engagement on the corresponding caseworker guidance and training. Additionally, the Detention Centre Rules 2001 will be reviewed later this year and NGOs and others will be consulted on proposed changes to them. Home Office Ministers have also written to a number of hon. Members and Peers about these issues.

Driving Offences: Speed Limits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information his Department holds on the number of drivers who took the National Speed Awareness courses in 2017.

Mr Nick Hurd: National Speed Awareness courses are offered under the police controlled and operated National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme (NDORS). The Home Office does not hold information on the number of drivers who have taken Speed Awareness courses.

Airguns: Crime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many offences involving an airgun were recorded by police in each year from 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Office for National Statistics publishes offences recorded by the police involving an air weapon and time series data can be found in Table 2, available here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/offencesinvolvingtheuseofweaponsdatatables

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Mobile Phones

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what apps her Department has approved for use on mobile phones issued by her Department.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Due to national security concerns it would be inappropriate to publicly supply a list of applications approved for use on mobile phones issued by the Department, as to do so facilitates attacks against official systems by hostile actors.

Treasury

UK Trade with EU

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has modelled the effect on the UK economy of the Government's planned trading partnership with the EU.

John Glen: The Government is undertaking a wide range of analysis and preparatory work to support our EU exit negotiations and preparations. However, it is not standard practice to provide an ongoing commentary on internal analysis. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that would undermine our negotiating position. We have committed to providing Parliament with appropriate analysis ahead of the final vote on the deal. That will be the right time to present the work. It will allow Parliament to scrutinise an appropriate analysis of the options, based on the most accurate assessment we can make.

Foreign Investment in UK

Justin Tomlinson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of foreign direct investment in the UK in 2017 came from (a) acquisitions, mergers and joint-ventures, (b) new investments and (c) expansions of existing investments.

John Glen: Data on the proportions of foreign direct investment (FDI) by acquisitions, mergers and joint-ventures, new investments and expansions of existing investments in 2017, is not yet available. The annual release containing this information will be published in December 2018. The stock of foreign direct investment in the UK increased to £1.6 trillion in 2017, a further 0.7% increase in addition to the record high FDI inflows in 2016.

Developing Countries: Sustainable Development

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the role of his Department is on contributing to UK implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 on sustainable consumption and production.

Robert Jenrick: HM Treasury supports the wider work of the government on this issue through spending but also sets environmental tax policy, encouraging more sustainable production and consumption. For example, the Carbon Price Support incentivises investment in renewable energy and has contributed to a rapid decline in the use of coal in power generation. This helps to deliver cleaner energy for manufacturers and consumers. In the construction industry, the Aggregates Levy is shifting demand towards recycled and byproduct building materials and reducing the need to quarry for new materials. Tax is also transforming how we deal with waste. Since the Landfill Tax was introduced in 2000, the amount of waste going to landfill has decreased by 65% in the UK. Recycling has increased from 18% to 44% over the same period. HM Treasury is now exploring how the tax system or charges could be used to make the production and consumption of single-use plastics more sustainable. The Chancellor further supported this goal by committing £20m to businesses and universities, acting now to stimulate new thinking and rapid solutions in this area.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Robert Neill: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will meet members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Equitable Life to discuss the level of funding provided to victims through the Equitable Life Payment Scheme and the funds already allocated which have not yet been distributed.

John Glen: Around £1.5bn has been allocated to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme, which closed to new claims in 2015. Whilst previous representations have been made in regard of further funding, there are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme or to allocate further funds to it.

Sugar: Taxation

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what system is in place to monitor potential fraud in the collection of the sugar tax.

Robert Jenrick: The Soft Drinks Industry Levy is under the control of experienced compliance teams within HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Using the Promote, Prevent and Respond compliance strategy, HMRC will use intelligence-based risk assessments to identify those that fail to register or comply with the rules. HMRC will work closely with soft drinks manufacturers, and, supported by legal powers to tackle evasion, will take robust action against those that do not comply.

Credit: Regulation

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to protect customers from the high cost of (a) rent-to-own and (b) doorstep lending products.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to support the Financial Conduct Authority in regulating the high cost credit market.

John Glen: The government transferred the regulation of consumer credit, including rent-to-own and doorstep lending, to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014. The Government has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers, and the FCA proactively monitors the market, focussing on the areas most likely to cause consumer harm. The FCA is reviewing the high-cost credit market, and has identified specific concerns in rent-to-own and doorstep lending. The FCA will publish an update on its work later this month. Treasury ministers and officials meet regularly with the FCA, and the government will continue to work closely with the FCA to ensure all customers are treated fairly.

Equality

Tracy Brabin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of all departmental budgets to ensure that they (a) include a sum for investment in tackling children's social and economic inequalities and (b) enable policy collaboration between Departments on social and economic inequalities.

Elizabeth Truss: To tackle the inequalities that children face, in 2018-19 we’re giving schools £5.5 billion to support disadvantaged children. Over half a million of the country’s most disadvantaged 2 year olds have received free early education since the offer was introduced in 2014. And thanks to the government’s strong record on employment, since 2010, 598,000 fewer children are now living in workless households. The Government sets budgets through the Spending Review process, where we assess all departmental budgets and spending priorities in the round. At annual fiscal events the Government can make adjustments to these plans. In the last budget, this government was more transparent than any other: publishing detailed analysis of the impact of policy decisions on households of different incomes.

Air Passenger Duty: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date he is basing his plans for the (a) disapplication of Air Passenger Duty and (b) replacement of that duty with an air departure tax in Scotland.

Robert Jenrick: The timing of the introduction of Air Departure Tax in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Government. As agreed, the UK Government will maintain the application of Air Passenger Duty in Scotland in the interim.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Broadcasting: Equality

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with broadcasters on the omission of religion as a category in the diversity monitoring system Project Diamond.

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the BBC on (a) the omission of religion in the diversity monitoring system Project Diamond and (b) the effect of that omission on on-off screen diversity monitoring of faith groups working in or with that public service broadcaster.

Margot James: We expect broadcasters to voluntarily publish their data on all diversity characteristics - not just those they are legally obliged to - and the BBC should be leading the way on this.There have been no discussions with broadcasters regarding Project Diamond monitoring categories. Project Diamond is an industry led monitoring scheme owned by the Creative Diversity Network which is made up of all of the UK’s major broadcasters. Therefore, the decision to include or exclude categories is for the Creative Diversity Network alone.

Audio-visual Industry

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the UK audio visual sector in the event that the country of origin principle for broadcasters ceases to apply in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: As stated by the Prime Minister in her Mansion House speech in March 2018, we are working hard to secure an agreement with the EU which would allow UK-based broadcasting licensees to continue broadcasting freely into the EU.However, a responsible government should prepare for all potential eventualities, including a scenario in which no mutually satisfactory agreement on broadcasting can be reached. DCMS Ministers and officials are therefore engaging with individual businesses to understand possible impacts and mitigations to ensure that the UK remains the most attractive destination for doing broadcasting business.

Mobile Phones: Rural Areas

Mr Alister Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using emergency services masts to improve mobile phone coverage in rural parts of Scotland and the UK.

Margot James: In delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN), the mobile network operator EE is delivering around 500 new sites (up to 291 of which will be funded by the Government) and upgrading its entire existing network. Over 300 of these new sites are in Scotland and all new sites are open to incoming site share applications from other Mobile Network Operators. Additionally, in the more remote areas of Great Britain, the Government, as part of its Extended Area Service (EAS) Programme, will deliver approximately 300 further sites for ESN and, potentially, for commercial coverage. 123 of these EAS sites will be in Scotland.

Mobile Phones: Scotland

Mr Alister Jack: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with mobile phone operators on improving mobile phone coverage in rural parts of Scotland.

Margot James: Ministers regularly meet the Mobile Network Operators to discuss a range of issues including improving mobile phone coverage across the whole of the UK, including Scotland.

Film and Television: Tax Allowances

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on changing (a) film and (b) high-end television tax relief to encourage an increase in the diversity of people working in the film and television industries.

Margot James: The Secretary of State meets regularly with his counterparts in Treasury to discuss a range of matters, including the creative sector tax reliefs, which have successfully encouraged the production of culturally British films and high-end TV programmes worth over £10 billion in expenditure since 2007, making the UK one of the top production destinations in the world.We are committed to improving diversity in all DCMS sectors and is supportive of relevant work being undertaken by the British Film Institute (BFI) as the government’s arm’s length body for the moving image.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many of his Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.

Margot James: There has been one such invitation.

National Lottery: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much National Lottery funding has been allocated to projects in Northern Ireland in 2017.

Tracey Crouch: National Lottery good cause money is allocated by expert bodies at arm’s length from Government, taking account of their own priorities and the need for equitable distribution. The devolved Lottery Distribution Bodies have their policy directions set by the devolved administrations. National Lottery good cause monies are distributed in Northern Ireland by Sport Northern Ireland and Arts Council of Northern Ireland.Sport Northern Ireland receives 0.52% of the total National Lottery Distribution Fund; Arts Council of Northern Ireland receives 0.56%. This amounts to an estimated £17.7m in 2017/18 (subject to audit). In addition to this, the UK-wide Lottery Distributors (UK Sport, Big Lottery Fund, Heritage Lottery Fund and British Film Institute) also distribute parts of their allocation to projects in Northern Ireland. Proportions will vary by distributor.

Fascism: Social Media

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the Government has taken steps to deter the display or sale of Nazi memorabilia on social media marketplace platforms; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: As set out in the Internet Safety Strategy, behaviour which is unacceptable offline is unacceptable online. Therefore, where the sale of memorabilia supports harmful views or could encourage hate crime, we expect social media companies to have robust processes in place to remove this content.

Parks: Regeneration

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on local communities of the ending of the Parks for People conservation grant scheme.

Michael Ellis: The Parks for People programme was a joint scheme between the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund, and therefore such decisions are made independently of Government.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Electricity Generation: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what records his Department made of emission changes in UK energy generation in each of the last 12 months.

Claire Perry: The Department does not estimate emission changes on a monthly basis. Provisional carbon dioxide emissions estimates, published in March, show quarterly estimates of emissions from energy supply for 2017 as follows: 2017 quarter:Q1Q2Q3Q4Carbon dioxide emissions from energy supply (Mt)110.6107.6106.2105.0 Source: Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2017https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2017

Biofuels: Carbon Emissions

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to measure the carbon dioxide emissions of biomass energy generation plants.

Claire Perry: The Department does not estimate emission changes on a differential basis between technologies. The latest provisional carbon dioxide emissions estimates were published in March 2017. “Provisional UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics 2017” https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2017 However, the UK has among the most stringent biomass sustainability provisions in Europe. Generators only receive subsidies for the electricity output which complies with our sustainability criteria which ensure biomass reduces carbon emissions (including a requirement to demonstrate a minimum 60% lifecycle greenhouse gas saving) and is sourced sustainably.

Energy Performance Certificates

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of ensuring that all homes are rated at least energy performance certificate band C by 2035; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The Clean Growth Strategy set out the Government’s aspiration that as many homes as possible will be upgraded to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable. The total investment required depends on a number of factors, including the mix of technologies used to achieve improvements, how they are financed, and how the costs of technologies change over time. The Government is focussed on mobilising investment to help meet this aspiration and the other goals set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, and reducing the cost of investment required by encouraging innovation. Alongside the Clean Growth Strategy, the government set up the Green Finance Taskforce, which brought together senior leaders from the financial sector. One of their objectives was to help deliver the investment needed to meet the ambitions and commitments set out in our Clean Growth Strategy whilst consolidating the UK’s leadership in financing international clean investment. The Taskforce published their recommendations in March this year. The government is currently considering these recommendations and will respond in due course. The Government also launched two new £10 million innovation programmes to develop new and improved energy efficiency and heating technologies to help reduce the cost of improving homes. The funds closed to applicants on 2 January, and we are currently reviewing bids. Further, the Government published a Call for Evidence on building a market for energy efficiency including additional measures to reduce the cost of investment required to improve homes. This Call for Evidence closed on 9 January 2018. Following an evaluation of the responses, we will publish an action plan on additional market based measures later in 2018.

Design

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to seek reciprocal recognition of unregistered design rights between the EU and the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Sam Gyimah: As expressed in the UK Technical Note on “Other Separation Issues”, where the UK does not have existing domestic legislation to protect certain types of rights, it will establish new schemes. This will preserve the full scope of the unregistered Community design right in the UK. In respect of reciprocal recognition of EU and UK unregistered design rights, negotiations will take place with the EU as part of the leaving process, which we hope will deal with these matters.

Trade Marks

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to maintain a continuation of the EEA exhaustion regime in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Exhaustion of rights is one of the IPO’s priorities in preparing for the UK’s exit from the EU, and we are working closely with other departments on this subject.The current framework means that rights are exhausted after first sale within the EEA. In the draft Withdrawal Agreement the EU and UK have agreed, in principle, that IP rights exhausted in the EU and the UK before the end of the transition period shall remain exhausted in both areas.We are considering options for the choice of regime in the future.

European Social Fund

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much each country of the UK received from the European Social Fund in each year since 2012.

Andrew Griffiths: Funding for European Structural Fund programmes, including the European Social Fund (ESF), are set as part of the EU’s multiannual financial framework (MFF), The ESF allocations to the UK, excluding any Youth Employment Initiative funding, for the 2014-20 MFF are as follows:  2014 (€)2015 (€)2016 (€)2017 (€)2018 (€)2019 (€)2020 (€)TOTAL (2014-20) (€)England-899,042,788463,063,745476,653,947486,192,813495,922,545505,845,9123,326,721,750Scotland56,201,74957,326,91858,474,45360,082,30461,284,70462,511,12863,761,984419,643,240Wales135,265,834137,973,881140,735,757144,089,622146,973,230149,914,450152,914,2661,007,867,040Northern Ireland27,621,12728,174,10728,738,07930,580,99131,192,98231,817,20032,453,855210,578,341Gibraltar-1,315,551677,820690,861704,868718,875733,3674,841,342 These figures include EU funding available to support projects and programme administration, and the performance reserve, and does not include any non-EU co-financing. Each country of the UK has its own operational programme setting out the objectives and focus of ESF expenditure. ESF managing authorities will hold data on the 2007-13 programmes. The managing authorities for the ESF programmes in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar are the Devolved Administrations and HM Government of Gibraltar respectively. In England, where the Department for Work and Pensions is the managing authority, the allocations of ESF funding were: 2012  (€)2013  (€)England410,923,902427,344,776

European Social Fund

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many successful applicants to the European Social Fund left the programme early in each region of the UK in the latest period for which information is available.

Andrew Griffiths: European Social Fund (ESF) programmes are administered in the UK by designated managing authorities. These are the Department for Work and Pensions for England, and the Devolved Administrations and HM Government of Gibraltar outside of England. To date managing authorities have had the following number of applicants withdraw from 2014-20 ESF projects before completion:  Number of applicants who withdrew from projects before completion England3Wales0Scotland3Northern Ireland5Gibraltar0 The above figures refer to applicants for funding who are managing ESF projects, rather than individual participants in individual projects.

Innovate UK

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications were received by Innovate UK from applicants in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In 2015 the number of applications received by lead applicants from:(a) England 4,020(b) Wales 133(c) Scotland 224(d) Northern Ireland 50 In 2016 the number of application received from :(a) England 4,053(b) Wales 159(c) Scotland 239(d) Northern Ireland 54 There is no data available for 2017.

Innovate UK

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many applications received by Innovate UK from applicants in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland were successful in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In 2015 the number of successful applications by lead applicants from:(a) England 1,059 (26.34% success rate)(b) Wales 44 (33.08% success rate)(c) Scotland 62 (27.68% success rate)(d) Northern Ireland 12 (24% success rate) In 2016 the number of successful applications by lead applicants from:(a) England 1,106 (27.29% success rate)(b) Wales 41 (25.79% success rate)(c) Scotland 85 (35.56% success rate)(d) Northern Ireland 19 (35.19% success rate) There is no data available for 2017.

Innovate UK: Grants

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding Innovate UK awarded to applicants in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Total grant commitments awarded to all applicants/participants from:2015-2016(a) England 634,666,900 (core budget only – 285,291,379)(b) Wales 13,702,138 (core budget only – 12,329,668)(c) Scotland 32, 371,269 (core budget only – 21,748,053)(d) Northern Ireland 10,378,401 (core budget only - 3,746,692) 2016-2017(a) England 658,944,899 (core budget only – 298,702,027)(b) Wales 18,699,408 (core budget only – 18,129,691)(c) Scotland 26,786,768 (core budget only – 26,180,878))(d) Northern Ireland 11,280,825 (core budget only – 9,023,132)

Innovate UK: Wales

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of bids to Innovate UK from applicants in Wales.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There is on ongoing activities through UK Research and Innovation which brings together the seven Research Councils, Innovate UK and funding for university research through Research England. Companies have opportunities to bid for funding projects through connecting services for innovators such as Knowledge Transfer Network and Enterprise Europe Network. Details of funding opportunities are also published on www.gov.uk. Since 2016, Innovate UK has put in place regional managers throughout the UK, including in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These managers are working with local stakeholders to strengthen relationships with key players in cities and regions, as well as to ensure that businesses throughout the regions and nations understand the offer from Innovate UK. Over the last 12 months Innovate UK have held 10 specific regional events aligned with and co-developed with each region, (e.g. the recent ‘NW Innovation’ event with Jürgen Maier), as well as participating in flagship events such as the Wales Festival of Innovation, Northern Ireland Science Festival, and Great Expedition of the North. We are also participating in innovation strategy boards throughout the UK, including those reporting to Ministers such as the Can Do Forum in Scotland, and Innovation Advisory Council for Wales. This will have real impact as Local Industrial Strategies are developed in the coming year

Fuel Poverty: Greater London

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty in (a) Lewisham borough and (b) London.

Claire Perry: The table below shows the number and proportion of households living in fuel poverty in Lewisham and London between 2014 and 2015 (latest data available).  LewishamLondon Fuel Poor HouseholdsPercent Fuel PoorFuel Poor HouseholdsPercent Fuel Poor201412,30010.5%348,00011%201512,00010.2%335,00010%*Household figures for Lewisham are rounded to the nearest 100 and proportion of fuel poor to the nearest 1 decimal place*Household figures for London are rounded to the nearest 1,000 and proportion of fuel poor to the nearest whole number Due to the relative nature of the fuel poverty measure, the proportion of households in fuel poverty fluctuates between 10% and 12% at the national level. The latest sub-regional fuel poverty statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statistics

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Cybercrime

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2018 to Question 136113 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Cybercrime, if he will publish the infrastructure providers that have been involved in the discussions on cyber-security.

Richard Harrington: Cyber security is one of the Government's top national security priorities and BEIS is continuing to work with industry partners to ensure that the risks to critical national infrastructure are understood and that appropriate mitigations are in place. For reasons of national security, we are unable to provide a list of infrastructure providers that have been involved in discussions on cyber security.

Shipbuilding

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps his Department has taken to support commercial shipbuilding in (a) the North East and (b) the UK.

Richard Harrington: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy continues to work closely with the Maritime Enterprise Working Group tasked in the National Shipbuilding Strategy with driving up productivity and competitiveness in the supply chain and shipyards, including those in the North East.

Carbon Emissions: Standards

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the report entitled 10 years of the UK Climate Change Act, published by the London School of Economics and Political Science on 30 March, 2018 what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendation in that report to amend the Climate Change Act 2008 to include a statutory response time for carbon plans.

Claire Perry: There are currently no plans to amend the Climate Change Act to include a statutory response time for the publication of carbon plans.

Carbon Emissions

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a UK-wide emissions trading system after the UK leaves the EU.

Claire Perry: The Government is considering all factors in relation to the UK’s future participation, or otherwise, in the EU ETS, in consultation with stakeholders.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of participating in Phase 4 of the EU's emissions trading system after the UK leaves the EU.

Claire Perry: The Government welcomes the formal agreement earlier this year on reform of the EU ETS for the 2021-30 period (‘Phase IV’). It strikes an effective balance between environmental ambition and protecting the competitiveness of industry. These reforms are expected to result in a more meaningful carbon price and stimulate investment in low-carbon technologies and the support of these reforms is without prejudice to any future decision on UK participation, or otherwise, in the EU ETS after we leave the EU.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Diaries

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many page views there were of his Department's Ministerial diaries in each of the last 12 months.

Richard Harrington: Ministers’ diaries are not online so there is no information to report on page views.

Electricity Generation: Diesel Fuel

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much diesel electricity generating capacity is available on standby at times of peak demand; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The vast bulk of GB peak electricity needs are now secured through the Capacity Market. The amount of diesel that wins capacity agreements in each auction varies depending on the price bid and National Grid has not broken the capacity down to identify only diesel for the current delivery year. However, around 1.45% (789 MW) of the capacity agreements held for 2017/18 are in the Open Cycle Gas Turbine & Reciprocating Engine (Diesel) category, which would include diesel generators. In addition, National Grid maintain balancing reserves on standby, including generating capacity in the form of the Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR), and Fast Reserve. These are secured through tender rounds which run three times a year for STOR and monthly for the Fast Reserve. Amounts to be procured varying according to need and National Grid do not routinely maintain a breakdown by fuel type for successful tenders. However, a fuel type analysis of STOR* was published for the period 27/10/14-2/2/15 which showed that diesel amounted to 743MW, or 22%, of the STOR procured in that season.*https://www.nationalgrid.com/sites/default/files/documents/STOR%20%20Fuel%20Type%20Analysis%20Summary%20%28By%20Capacity%29%20-%20Season%208.5%20-%20Final_0.pdf

Carbon Capture and Storage

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on carbon capture, utilisation and storage for (a) oil (b) gas (c) coal and (d) the industrial sector; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The Clean Growth Strategy, published in October 2017, includes the Government’s new approach to carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS), setting an ambition of deploying CCUS at scale during the 2030s, subject to costs coming down sufficiently. The new approach sets out that CCUS has a potential role in decarbonising a number of sectors of the economy, including in industry, power and heat. Government will be publishing a Deployment Pathway for CCUS by the end of the year which will set out the steps needed to meet this ambition. This will be informed by the CCUS Cost Challenge Taskforce that I established and which will report to me in July 2018. In parallel, Government will invest £100 million in CCUS and industrial energy innovation and continue to work with other Governments and industry to drive down the cost and accelerate global deployment of CCUS. As part of this, I will be, with Fatih Birol, Executive Head of the International Energy Agency, hosting a high-level CCUS Summit on 28 November 2018 in Edinburgh.

Electricity Generation: Costs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost per MWh  of energy generated by (a) onshore wind, (b) offshore wind, (c) solar PV, (d) open cycle gas, (e) combine cycle gas and (f) coal in 2020.

Claire Perry: BEIS’s most recent published assessment of electricity generation costs can be found in the generation costs report (2016)[1] which covers both renewable and non-renewable technologies. We are currently undertaking a review of our evidence on levelised costs of electricity generation. The relevant section of the 2016 generation cost report is included below. BEIS no longer produces estimates for the levelised cost of unabated coal. Levelised Cost Estimates for NOAK Projects Commissioning in 2020, Technology-specific Hurdle Rates, £/MWh (2014 prices)  CCGT H ClassOCGT 600MW (500hrs)Offshore Wind Round 3Large Scale Solar PVOnshore Wind >5MW UKPre Development Costs05564Construction Costs763735244Fixed O&M21724910Variable O&M33305Fuel Costs3552000Carbon Costs1928000Total661661066763 [1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/566567/BEIS_Electricity_Generation_Cost_Report.pdf

Parental Leave

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the Government's policy is on making shared parental pay and paternity pay a right for all employees from their first day of employment.

Andrew Griffiths: We have started the evaluation of the Shared Parental Leave and Pay schemes this year. This will look at the take up of leave and pay by fathers and partners, barriers to take-up, and how Shared Parental Leave and Pay are being used in practice. As a part of the same process of data collection, we will also gather information on the take up of paternity leave and pay. The evaluation will improve the evidence base and inform future policy development in this area.

Energy: Prices

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to support Ofgem in ensuring that the new RIIO-2 price control framework is tougher on energy network companies.

Claire Perry: Network regulation, including setting the next energy network price control, RIIO-2, is a matter for Ofgem as the independent energy regulator. By law, Government has no role in this process. Ofgem states that its proposals for RIIO-2 are expected to save consumers £5 billion over 5 years or around £15-25 per household bill. Government welcomes regulators and network companies acting in the best interests of consumers and expects consumers to get a fair deal.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of his Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.

Jake Berry: There were no invitations to tender with a value exceeding the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) thresholds which received no bids during the period from April 2016 to March 2018.

Building Regulations Advisory Committee

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with the Building Regulations Advisory Committee on the scope of the review of guidance in Approved Document M Volume 2.

Dominic Raab: Holding answer received on 30 April 2018



The Department is speaking with the Building Regulations Advisory committee and is looking to set out its plans to scope a review of guidance in Approved Document M Volume 2. The committee is expected to discuss this at a forthcoming meeting in the coming weeks.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Diaries

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many page views there were of his Department's Ministerial diaries in each of the last 12 months.

Jake Berry: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) does not publish ministerial diaries.Information on MHCLG ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and external meetings is published quarterly. To date, the page views for each set of data are as follows: January – March 2017 370 page viewsApril – June 2017 428 page viewsJuly – September 2017 384 page viewsOctober – December 2017 165 page views

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to make up its shortfall in personnel.

Mark Lancaster: We are committed to maintaining the overall size of the Armed Forces. The Services are meeting all their current commitments. To help address Armed Forces manning challenges the Ministry of Defence has introduced its Armed Forces People Programme to modernise the employment offer including scope for flexible working and a new Forces' Accommodation Model. The individual Services have also implemented a wide range of programmes including:The Royal Navy/Royal Marines have the Personnel Recovery Programme which includes initiatives to improve inflow (gains to trained strength); throughflow (changes to training pipelines, promotions and accelerated throughput); and outflow (improving retention and reducing voluntary outflow).The Army is implementing improvements to recruitment and training policy and practices; targeted financial retention incentives; and a strategy to attract personnel to re-join the Army.The RAF has established Enterprise Collaboration Teams to oversee a range of recruitment initiatives for critical skills groups, including the appointments of Specialist Recruitment Teams for hard to recruit branches and trades, BAME and female personnel. A new initiative has also been introduced to encourage personnel to re-join the Service.

Armed Forces: Charities

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he made the decision that Ministers will not meet military charities which are not members of Confederation of Service Charities; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: No such decision has been made. I am encouraging the service charity sector to strengthen their professional standards, and Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO) membership is part of this. I will by exception engage with non-COBSEO charities, and part of the conversation I will have with them is to understand why they are not members of COBSEO.

Ministry of Defence: Recruitment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken was to fill vacancies for (a) Administrative Assistant/Administrative Officer, (b) Executive Officer, (c) Senior Executive Officer/Higher Executive Officer, (d) Grades 6 and 7 civil servants and (e) Senior Civil Service grade positions in his Department in each of the last five financial years.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Information can only be provided for the last four financial years as the current recruitment system was introduced in April 2014. The average time taken to fill a vacancy has been calculated in working days from the date the vacancy was advertised to the date a provisional offer was made to a candidate. Grade BandFinancial Year2014-152015-162016-172017-18*Administrative Assistant/Administrative Officer35.238.038.739.4Executive Officer37.840.942.842.7Senior Executive Officer/Higher Executive Officer39.144.142.943.4Grades 6 and 748.949.847.453.5 * Excludes Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) vacancies as DE&S ceased using the Civil Service broader banded grades in April 2017 The information on the average time taken to fill vacancies for the Senior Civil Service is not held in an easily accessible format. I will write to the hon. Member with the information shortly.

Warships: Shipbuilding

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps his Department has taken to support naval shipbuilding in (a) the North East and (b) the UK.

Guto Bebb: The National Shipbuilding Strategy aims to re-energise the UK's shipbuilding industry by encouraging participation from across the UK shipbuilding enterprise, including opening up the procurement of all future naval ships to competition.A key objective of the National Shipbuilding Strategy is to improve the international competitiveness of the UK shipbuilding industry. To that end, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working with industry through the Maritime Enterprise Working Group (MEWG) to undertake a long-term programme of improvement. The MEWG's membership consists of high ranking industry members from different parts of the country, including representatives of companies based in the North East. The group's priorities include improving competitiveness and productivity in the shipyards and supply chain to help shipbuilding companies improve their capability when bidding for, both, commercial and naval contracts. This is on top of approximately £3 billion of MOD expenditure with the UK's shipbuilding and repair industry in FY2016-17, as set out in the MOD's most recent regional spending bulletin:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-regional-expenditure-with-uk-industry-and-supported-employment-201617

Army: Re-employment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many regular army service leavers from (a) Infantry, (b) Royal Artillery, (c) Royal Corps of Signals, (d) Army Medical Services, (e) Adjutant General's Corps, (f) Royal Armoured Corps, (g) Army Air Corps, (h) Royal Engineers, (i) Royal Logistics Corps, (j) Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and (k) Intelligence Corps in each of the last five years have subsequently rejoined the (i) regular army (ii) army reserve.

Mark Lancaster: The following tables show the number of regular Army service leavers from the requested Regiments or Corps for the last five years who have subsequently rejoined the Regular or Reserve Army, data is as at 31 December 2017.  Regular Army Service Leavers who Re-joined the Regular Army:  Year of Outflow 20132014201520162017Household Cavalry/Royal Armoured Corps3010-10-Royal Regiment of Artillery302010--Corps of Royal Engineers30101010-Royal Corps of Signals101010--Infantry10090602010Army Air Corps1010---Royal Logistic Corps30401010-Army Medical Services101010--Royal Army Medical Corps101010-- Royal Army Veterinary Corps----- Royal Army Dental Corps----- Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps-----Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers3010---Adjutant General Corps20----Intelligence Corps-----Regular Army Service Leavers who Re-joined the FR20 Reserves:  Year of Outflow 20132014201520162017Household Cavalry/Royal Armoured Corps10060707060Royal Regiment of Artillery1201001007080Corps of Royal Engineers170120150140100Royal Corps of Signals1009010010060Infantry400320280220210Army Air Corps2030201020Royal Logistic Corps220180160150100Army Medical Services7070706060Royal Army Medical Corps5050604040 Royal Army Veterinary Corps1010-10- Royal Army Dental Corps101010-- Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps1010101010Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers12060708070Adjutant General Corps10080606050Intelligence Corps3020305030 Notes/Caveats:Outflow figures are from the trade trained Regular Army (previously known as trained, ie after completion of Phase 2 training), and therefore exclude Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Gurkhas (but include those individuals who have transferred from Brigade of Gurkhas to Regulars) and untrained personnel. Figures include untrained and trained personnel who re-entered between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2017. Arm/Service refers to the Arm/Service on outflow from the Regular Army, the Arm/Service on re-entry may not be the same. Future Reserves 2020 includes volunteer reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserve and Volunteer Reserve personnel serving on ADC or FTRS contracts and some Sponsored Reserves. Figures have been rounded to 10 to limit disclosure, ensure confidentiality; numbers ending in "5" have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. Totals and sub-totals have been rounded separately and so may not appear to be the sum of their parts. “-” denotes zero or rounded to zero.

Ministry of Defence: Plastics

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to reduce its use of single-use plastics.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: In the 25 Year Environment plan (published on 11 January 2018 and available on Gov.uk) the Government outlined a range of measures on how we will reduce the amount of plastic in circulation through reducing demand for single-use plastic. This included a commitment to removing all consumer single use plastics from the central Government estate offices. Like all Departments we will work to reduce and, where practicable, eliminate the use of single use plastics. We are currently undertaking a review of what single-use plastics the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces use and are working with industry and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to take this initiative forward.

Frigates: Procurement

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his French counterpart on their respective Governments' frigate procurement programmes; and if he will make a statement.

Guto Bebb: No such discussions on this issue have taken place.

Ministry of Defence Police

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2018 to Question 127005, on Ministry of Defence Police, what the (a) agreed size of the Ministry of Defence Police complement and (b) the actual number of officers employed by the Ministry of Defence Police was in each year since 2010.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence Police complement and strength in each year as at 31 March since 2010 is: 31 MarchComplementStrength*2005Not available within timescale3,34620063,5353,46220073,5133,52520083,6803,55020093,6703,49020103,6613,46420113,6453,30220122,7292,94920132,7082,66020142,6902,49720152,6662,50320162,6912,52020172,6912,57020182,7062,533 *Average number employed up to 31 March of each year as published In Ministry of Defence Police accounts

Ministry of Defence Police

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to remove the Ministry of Defence Police presence from UK (a) facilities, (b) property and (c) sites which to date have had their protective security ensured by that force.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to maintain Ministry of Defence Police armed policing capacity.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has sought additional investment in police counter-terrorism capability for the Ministry of Defence Police; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The safety and security of the Defence Estate continues to be of the utmost importance. There are many ways this is achieved, including the vital role provided by the Ministry of Defence Police.The deployment of Ministry of Defence Police resources is kept under constant review. This ensures our policing resources are deployed where they are most needed. We continue to fully safeguard all of our sites and would never contemplate changes that would place these in jeopardy.We are confident that the current strength of the force, together with other security provision is sufficient to counter the threats we face.The Ministry of Defence Police continues to focus on delivering its specialist policing services efficiently and effectively within its allocated budget. The MOD remains committed to supporting the national Counter-Terrorism response. The Ministry of Defence Police have deployed significant numbers of armed officers followed the activation of OPERATION TEMPERER.

Department for International Trade

Board of Trade: Meetings

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when the most recent meeting was of the Board of Trade.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who attended the most recent meeting of the Board of Trade.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will publish the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Board of Trade.

Greg Hands: The Board of Trade met at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston on 29 March 2018.The meeting was attended by the Advisers to the Board of Trade, as stated on https://www.gov.uk/government/news/international-trade-secretary-dr-liam-fox-convenes-a-new-board-of-trade-to-ensure-the-benefits-of-free-trade-are-spread-throughout-the-uk, my Rt Hon Friends the Secretary of State for International Trade, the Secretary of State for Wales, my Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I. The Lord Mayor of London also attended as an Adviser.

Africa: Overseas Trade

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support an increase in UK business and trade with African countries.

Graham Stuart: The trading relationship between the UK and Africa is currently worth more than £27 billion and the UK has more than £21 billion invested in the African continent. The Department for International Trade has 80 staff in 21 African countries who provide invaluable support to British businesses who wish to trade or invest on the continent. We also have 10 Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys who do invaluable work to promote UK-Africa trade.UK Export Finance (UKEF) has significant capacity to support UK exports to Africa and its risk appetite is over £20bn.As we leave the EU, we will put in place a UK trade preferences scheme which will, as a minimum, provide the same level of access as the current EU scheme. We will also seek to replicate the effects of the EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements.

Foreign Investment in UK

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps he is taking to attract foreign direct investment to the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade’s Foreign Direct Investment strategy will ensure Government support is focused where it is most valued by investors and in a way that will maximise wealth creation across the whole of the UK. We have changed our measure of performance from simply measuring project volumes to measuring economic impact. Our growing portfolio of ‘High Potential Opportunities’ will promote emerging sector clusters, supply chain gaps and other investment opportunities with high potential to deliver economic benefits across the whole of the UK. We continue to work closely with Government colleagues strengthening the attractiveness of the UK business environment for foreign investment.

Arms Trade

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Human Rights and Democracy Report 2016, published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in July 2017, which countries listed as countries of concern on human rights the Government has authorised arms sales to in the last year.

Graham Stuart: The Government publishes Official Statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) of licences granted and refused for military exports on GOV.UK. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-dataAll export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.

Women and Equalities

Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what correspondence there has been between her Department and the Speaker of the House of Commons on whether a decision to re-open the Access to Elected Office scheme has been made.

Victoria Atkins: The previous Home Secretary and the Speaker have corresponded and a decision will be made in due course.

Commonwealth: LGBT People

Sarah Champion: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the timetable is for the publication of the guidance on international best practice on sexual orientation and gender identity; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure this guidance is rolled out throughout commonwealth countries.

Victoria Atkins: The International Best Practice Guide to Equality on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, developed by OutRight Action International and commissioned by the Government Equalities Office, was published on 18th April 2018.The Department has taken a number of steps to ensure the guide is distributed throughout Commonwealth countries. It was distributed at the Commonwealth Summit, which was attended by parliamentarians, diplomats, business leaders, civil society and activists from across the Commonwealth. Events will be held in different regions of the world in order to distribute the guide and facilitate opportunities for discussion and the sharing of best practice. A copy of the guide has also been sent to the House of Commons Library.

Sexual Harassment: Employment

Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, when the Government plans to publish its response to the recommendations made by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in its report entitled Turning the Tables: Ending Sexual Harassment at Work, published in March 2018.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an independent public authority and Government does not routinely respond to its reports. However, we welcome the work it has done on sexual harassment in its March 2018 report as a contribution to the current inquiry into sexual harassment in the workplace by the Women and Equalities Select Committee.

Equal pay: Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many companies in the Feltham and Heston constituency employ over 250 employees; and of those companies (a) what the average gender pay gap is and (b) how many failed to report their gender pay gap statistics by the 4 April 2018 deadline.

Victoria Atkins: Under new regulations, large employers were required to publish gender pay gap data by the deadlines of 30 March for the public sector, and 4 April for the private and voluntary sector.All of the data published by organisations for the first year of gender pay gap reporting is available on the government reporting website:https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/The data can be filtered by postcode, however, organisations are identified by the address they are registered at according to their Companies House record. As a result, there may be companies that employ more than 250 people in the constituency, but are registered at another address.The Office for National Statistics publishes gender pay gaps by home parliamentary constituency. The median gap for Feltham and Heston is 16.1%.

Department for Transport

Railways: Ombudsman

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the Rail Ombudsman to commence operations.

Joseph Johnson: The Rail Delivery Group is finalising the procurement of a specialist ombudsman provider to run the Rail Ombudsman. The identity of the successful bidder is expected to be announced shortly, following which the timetable for the commencement of the scheme will be clearly established. However, we have been clear we are expecting it to be up and running by the end of the year.

East Coast Main Line

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps Network Rail is taking to improve power supply on the East Coast Main Line.

Joseph Johnson: Over £150m has already been spent in upgrading the East Coast power supply since 2014 to enable additional Thameslink services, currently being introduced, and the introduction of Intercity Express Trains (Class 800 and 801) through the East Coast franchise from December 2018. A further upgrade on the East Coast power supply is planned which will enable the full roll out of new Intercity Express Trains which will bring greater capacity, improved customer experience, faster journeys and more direct connections for passengers.

East Coast Main Line

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of upgrading the power supply on the East Coast Main Line to ensure that the network is ready for the full roll-out of Class 800 and Class 801 trains.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail is currently designing a second phase of the power upgrade and the Department expects to receive updated designs and costs in early 2019. The Department will consider the cost for this second power upgrade in line with the new Rail Enhancements Pipeline decision making process published on 20th March.

East Coast Main Line: Digital Technology

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department and Network Rail are taking to make the East Coast Main Line a digital railway.

Joseph Johnson: Currently, the Department for Transport are discussing with Network Rail signalling options on the East Coast Main Line. These discussions will take into consideration how we can deliver most passenger benefits and offer best value for money.

East Coast Main Line

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps Network Rail are taking to reduce journey times on the East Coast Main Line.

Joseph Johnson: The Department continues to work with Network Rail to deliver the East Coast Main Line Enhancements Programme which will enable entry into service of a new fleet of trains through the Intercity Express Programme. Together these will deliver increased capacity, reliability and reduced journey times to destinations along the east coast. The industry is working together to ensure that the timetable improvements expected on the East Coast Main Line are delivered.

Railways: East Midlands

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of rail services in the East Midlands.

Joseph Johnson: The Government is committed to improving journeys for passengers in the East Midlands, which is why we are delivering the biggest upgrade of the Midland Main Line route since it was completed in 1870. Passengers will see modern trains introduced across the route during the next East Midlands franchise, including a fleet of brand new bi-mode intercity trains. The upgrade will enable increased passenger capacity and improved journey times, thereby improving the overall experience for passengers. In an extensive public consultation last summer we sought views on the future of East Midlands rail services to ensure the new franchise delivers the best railway for passengers, communities and businesses, including how local train services can be improved to meet current and future needs more effectively. The consultation closed on 11 October 2017. All options for rail services in the next franchise are subject to analysis of the potential benefits and the responses we received to the consultation. No decisions have yet been made on the rail services that will be specified. Any outcome will seek to secure the best value for money for the taxpayer and be in the best interests of rail passengers. The next East Midlands franchise is planned to start in August 2019. Invitations to Tender (ITT) are due to be issued to potential bidders shortly. The ITT will set out the minimum requirements and provide the baseline that we expect the next franchise to build on.

Transport: Disability

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to publish maps showing disabled access to rail and bus stations and to other transport hubs.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department agrees that it is important to provide clear, accessible information for passengers about disabled access to, and facilities at, transport hubs. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) have a programme that will produce a map of stations on the rail network that are step-free and have accessible toilets. Where train companies produce these, they are added to the Network Rail Stations Made Easy webpage. Bus stations and bus stops are the responsibility of local authorities, and the Department encourages them to make such information publicly available. Airports and ports are run by commercial operators who are required by legislation to make information on access provision available in accessible formats.

Great Western Rail Franchise

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Great Western Railway on the reliability of its services; and if he will commission an independent audit of that service's reliability prior to assessing the potential merits of any longer-term extension of that franchise.

Joseph Johnson: Ministers and officials meet Network Rail and the train operators at a senior level to discuss performance. A Supervisory Board for train services on Network Rail’s Western Route was set up in 2017 with a key focus on performance. It is chaired independently by Dick Fearn, a senior rail executive with extensive experience in this country and abroad.

Motorcycles: Safety

Vicky Ford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has plans to (a) bring forward legislative proposals to make compulsory and (b) promote the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing for motorbike riders.

Jesse Norman: The Government already advises motorcyclists to wear high visibility clothing - Rules 86 and 87 of the Highway Code includes the advice to “wear a light or brightly coloured helmet and fluorescent clothing or strips, in daylight” and “wear reflective clothing or strips to improve your visibility in the dark”. The Government has no plans to bring forward proposals to make compulsory the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing for motorcyclists.

Roads: repairs and maintenance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of insurance claims for pot-hole damage has been to the public purse in the last 12 months.

Jesse Norman: In England, Highways England is responsible for the strategic road network, that is motorways and major A roads. Local roads, making up around 98% of the road network, fall under the responsibility of the relevant local highway authority. Highways maintenance in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales is a devolved matter and therefore falls under the responsibility of the respective Devolved Administrations. The Department is providing local authorities in England, outside London, with funding of £6.2 billion for local highways maintenance and to help repair potholes or stop them forming. The Department for Transport does not hold information on what the estimated cost of insurance claims has been to the public purse in the last 12 months due to pothole damage. The matter of insurance and dealing with any compensation claims due to possible defects, including potholes, on the highway network is entirely a matter for the relevant highway authority, who have delegated statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining their roads as set out in the Highways Act 1980 (as amended).

Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern Rail Franchise

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the second remedial plan for the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, whether he has made an assessment of the potential benefits to (a) the company and (b) passengers of any new default levels .

Joseph Johnson: The Remedial Plan includes an interim performance regime for the period up to September 2018. This regime includes enforcement provisions that will be triggered if performance falls below the contracted levels. In accordance with the Franchise Agreement, the Department is working with GTR on assessing the performance benchmarks (including the default levels) that will apply post September 2018.

First Transpennine Express

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the proposals of Trans Pennine rail submitted to him on the provision of train services on Boxing Day 2018.

Joseph Johnson: The report has been received from TPE and contains commercially confidential information and is therefore unsuitable for public publication. The proposals contained within the report have been considered by a technical working group, under confidentiality agreement, within Rail North / Transport for North and options will be considered that could see Boxing Day services introduced within the current franchise (running 2016 to 2023). However, there are a number of issues relating to the introduction of Boxing Day services, most notably the infrastructure works required to deliver capacity improvements that are often undertaken during Christmas / Boxing Day closures. It should also be noted that Boxing Day services are not contracted through the existing TPE Franchise Agreement and additional funding is expected to be needed to deliver such services.

Skipton-Colne Railway Line

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the terms of reference of the feasibility study into the restoration of the Skipton to Colne railway link.

Joseph Johnson: The study is being progressed under the Government’s new approach to railway enhancements. We are creating a rolling programme of investment, focused on outcomes that deliver real benefits to passengers, freight users and the economy. This new approach was set out in the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) published in March 2018. The study, on which we are working closely with Transport for the North, will evaluate the costs, value and funding options for reopening the line for passengers and freight, as part of a freight route across the Pennines. It will build on previous work commissioned by the local authorities and local campaign group. We expect to receive the results later this year in the form of a Strategic Outline Business Case prepared in line with the RNEP approach and other Government guidance on transport business cases. We will engage with wider stakeholders as the study progresses and on the conclusions before any decisions on next steps.

Transport: Infrastructure

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions took place with the aviation sector during the preparation of the port connectivity study in relation to the surface access needs of ports and airports.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The port connectivity study was commissioned specifically to examine the current level of surface access to sea-ports in England. Discussions were therefore undertaken with relevant stakeholders who utilise that surface access. This included road and rail freight industries, logistics companies, exporters, and the port industry, but not the aviation sector directly, though some of these stakeholders may work with both aviation and port sectors The Government is developing a new Aviation Strategy for the UK. It will set out the long-term direction for aviation policy to 2050 and beyond. This includes reviewing how road and rail links to airports are planned and delivered.

Railways: North of England

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to remove the Liverpool-Nottingham service from the East Midlands Trains franchise and add it to the TransPennine Express franchise.

Joseph Johnson: This issue is being considered as part of the procurement of the next East Midlands franchise and an announcement on this will be made when the Invitation to Tender is released.

Roads: Stonehenge

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Article 4 of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, what assessment he has made of whether plans for a new tunnel and flyover at Stonehenge are compliant with the terms of that Convention.

Jesse Norman: A key aim of the scheme is to remove the roads and heavy traffic, with their associated noise and disturbance, from the vicinity of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site – improving the presentation of the Site both for now and for future generations. A full environmental impact assessment of the A303 Stonehenge scheme is under way. This will include a Heritage Impact Assessment, that has regard to Article 4 of the World Heritage Convention. This will be published as part of Highways England’s application for a Development Consent Order. A historic environment assessment was undertaken in relation to the choice of preferred route for the A303 Stonehenge scheme. This is contained in Appendix E to the scheme assessment report published in September 2017 and is available at: https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/cip/a303-stonehenge/results/sar-volume-7.pdf

Shared Spaces: Visual Impairment

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the ninth report of session 2016-17 of the Women and Equalities Committee, Building for Equality: Disability and the Built Environment, published on 25 April 2017, HC 631, what steps he is taking to ensure that blind and partially sighted people are able to safely navigate shared space areas.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with local authorities in England on making shared space areas accessible for blind and partially sighted people.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government published its response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee report on 14 March 2018. It can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disability-and-the-built-environment-government-response-to-select-committee-report. The response welcomed the Committee’s contribution to this important debate and is absolutely clear that the needs of the whole community, including disabled people, need to be considered by councils looking to introduce any public realm scheme, including shared space. The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation has now reported to the Government on its review of shared space. It published “Creating better streets: Inclusive and accessible places” in January 2018.http://www.ciht.org.uk/en/document-summary/index.cfm/docid/BF28B40D-9855-46D6-B8C19E22B64AA066 The review has considered many of the issues raised by the Committee, and the report made recommendations for further work, including on guidance. The Government is considering those recommendations and will respond formally in due course. The Department for Transport is aware of and understands the issues raised around navigation within shared space. Local Transport Note 1/11: Shared Space already stresses the importance of engaging with groups representing disabled people during the development of any shared space scheme. It also refers to the need for authorities to ensure their designs are inclusive and reminds them of their duties under the Equality Act 2010. Local traffic authorities are responsible for the design of streets in their care, and do not have to seek Department for Transport approval to install street design schemes, whether they incorporate shared space or not.

Department of Transport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to Answer 27 April 2018 to Question 137449 on Department of Transport: Procurement, what each of the contracts were for.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The information requested is in the table below:DfTcTyre Age Research – to provide scientific evidence concerning the effect of age on passenger coach tyre integrity. A contract was subsequently awarded in January 2018. Northern Transport Strategy: Sub National Transport Bodies – A contract to develop the geographical understanding of the populations demands and how they affect transport needs West Coast Partnership Shadow Operators - This requirement is for the provision of specialist railway technical and commercial advice to support the West Coast Partnership Franchise Competition Rail Industry Competitiveness Work Package B - this was to evaluate rail industry competitiveness in overseas markets. This was re-tendered and awarded.DVLAGB-Swansea: Professional Driver Training - Professional Driver Training to provide driving lessons for shuttle and fork lift training - responses required by 12 October 2017. This requirement was eventually split between shuttle driver training and fork lift truck training and was awarded via Low Value Procurement. GB-Swansea: Provision of Service Oriented Architecture Practitioner Training (SOAP) - Provision of Service Oriented Architecture Practitioner Training Specialist training services. Computer-user familiarisation and training services. This is an essential tool used in test for new and existing developments – responses required by 29 September 2017. No responses were received to our advert and we had to award by way of Single Tender Action.DVSATachograph Head Sealing Pliers 2017 – 2019 - The supply of tachographs and anvils which are used for functionality check of speed limiters on some vehicles.MCAIntrinsically safe power packs – Specific safety zone requirements identified that resulted in no bids. Current technical requirements are being reviewed and new tender to be advertised shortly. All-Terrain Vehicles – Initial requirement was for an 8 seat requirement which resulted in no bids being received. The specification was amended to 6 seats and retendered resulting in 3 bids and a contract awarded.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Syria: Military Bases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Israeli Government on removing Iranian military bases from Syria.

Alistair Burt: We have a regular dialogue with the Israeli Government on Syria and the wider regional. The Prime Minister most recently spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 14 April. They discussed mutual concerns on Syria, including Iran’s destabilising activity in Syria and throughout the region. We will continue to work closely with our international partners to support stability in the region.

Turkey: Administration of Justice

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Turkish Government on ensuring fair trials for people accused of having links with terrorist organisations in that country.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign Secretary and I have regular discussions on human rights issues with our Turkish counterparts. The arrest of Amnesty International staff in Turkey is a case in point. It is important that legal measures, particularly under the State of Emergency in Turkey, be proportionate, justified and in line with Turkey's democratic principles and its international human rights obligations.

Bahrain: Overseas Aid

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which UK bodies will be implementing the technical assistance programme under the £1.52 million funding for overseas aid to Bahrain; and which Bahraini bodies will be the beneficiaries of that programme in the 2017-18 financial year.

Alistair Burt: The Government works with a number of implementation partners and beneficiaries to support Bahraini-led reform. These programmes aim to support progress on building effective and accountable institutions, strengthening the rule of law, and justice reform. All of our work is in line with international standards, and aims to share the UK's expertise and experience. Any training provided by, or on behalf of, the British Government fully complies with our domestic and international human rights obligations.

Bahrain: Political Prisoners

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Bahrain on the denial of family visitations to political prisoners in Jau prison; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Government monitors events in Bahrain closely. Where we have concerns on specific issues, including prison conditions, we raise these with the Bahraini authorities. We encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to report these to the relevant human rights oversight bodies. We encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.

Bahrain: Administration of Justice

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Government of Bahrain on the sentencing of family members of Said Ahmed Alwadaei; and if he will call for their release.

Alistair Burt: The Government is closely following these cases and representatives of the British Embassy in Bahrain regularly attend court hearings. We have raised these cases at a senior level with the Government of Bahrain. We understand there is a right of appeal to the Court of Cassation and we will continue to monitor proceedings.

Nabeel Rajab

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the five-year prison sentence for Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain and the treatment to which he is subjected by prison authorities.

Alistair Burt: We have raised the case of Nabeel Rajab at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain. My statement of 21 February made clear my concerns at the five-year sentence handed to Mr Rajab in addition to the two-year sentence he received in 2017. I understand that Mr Rajab has a right of appeal in this case and we will continue to monitor proceedings closely.We encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to report these to the relevant human rights oversight bodies. We continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments

Lula Da Silva, Luiz Ignacio

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Brazilian counterpart on the legal proceedings against former President of Brazil, Lula da Silva; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​I have not made any representations on this issue to my counterpart. Brazil has a robust, transparent and independent justice system that is rightly tackling corruption issues.

Israel: Arms Trade

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the implications are for the sale of arms to Israel of the Palestinians killed and injured during the Great Return March in 2018.

Alistair Burt: The UK is deeply concerned by the ongoing violence on Gaza’s borders. The Government takes its defence exports responsibilities extremely seriously and operates some of the most robust export controls in the world. We only approve equipment which is for Israel's legitimate self-defence and when we are satisfied that it would be consistent with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria and other relevant commitments. All applications for export licences are assessed on a case-by-case basis against strict criteria. We will not issue a licence if there is a clear risk that the equipment might be used for internal repression, or if there is a clear risk that it would provoke or prolong conflict.

British Overseas Territories: Marine Protected Areas

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer to Question 136780, on British Overseas Territories: Marine Protected Areas, which Blue Belt programme activities those payments of Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science staff salaries were associated with in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18.

Sir Alan Duncan: Under the Blue Belt initiative in 2016/17, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) provided advice on marine resources and their current management; undertook baseline assessment and gap analysis of each of the Overseas Territories (OT) to determine their marine management status and future needs. Cefas also procured a deep-water camera system to provide data for baselining and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas, including evaluating the impacts of fishing gear on habitats.In 2017/18, Cefas assisted the Tristan da Cunha Government with the planning and implementation of a marine protection strategy including an extensive programme of work to help the OT sustainably manage existing and developing fisheries, supporting the local economy. In collaboration with British Antarctic Survey and the OT Governments, Cefas planned and implemented scientific surveys in Tristan and St Helena maritime areas. Cefas also instigated tagging programmes for commercially exploited tuna and grouper species in the St Helena waters, which are providing valuable data on the ecology of these species. Cefas has recently undertaken a camera survey of the South Georgia MPA to investigate the impact of longline fishing gear on the marine ecosystem. Cefas assisted the British Indian Ocean Territory Administration in developing a detailed marine management plan for the existing MPA. Cefas has also providing training to staff from Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha and St Helena and procured safety equipment for staff and vessels working in the Tristan and St Helena maritime zones.

British Overseas Territories: Marine Protected Areas

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer to Question 136780, on British Overseas Territories: Marine Protected Areas, which Blue Belt programme activities those payments of Marine Management Organisation staff salaries were associated with in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18.

Sir Alan Duncan: Under the Blue Belt initiative during 2016-2017, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) staffing costs were primarily focused on initial programme development and assessment of Overseas Territory (OT) needs. The MMO undertook assessment of the effectiveness of satellite surveillance trials across the relevant OT, undertook a baseline assessment of new and innovative technologies to complement maritime enforcement and provided legal drafting support to St Helena Government.During 2017-2018, MMO established a central compliance and enforcement intelligence hub in the UK's National Maritime Information Centre to develop risk analysis profiles for each of the relevant OTs and provide technical support to OTs in monitoring incursions in their waters. The MMO supported the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands in developing a clearer fisheries compliance framework; comprehensive compliance and enforcement training to the British Indian Ocean Territory and supported enforcement patrols in Tristan da Cunha and Ascension.

Diplomatic Relations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what funding his Department has allocated to diplomatic work in (a) Africa, (b) Europe, (c) USA and (d) Latin America.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) latest confirmed expenditure (2016-17) on diplomatic work in the areas you have asked about was as follows:(a) Africa £164m(b) Europe £163m(c) USA £48m(d) Latin America £61m.These figures represent the full cost of supporting diplomatic work in these specific regions and include the costs for direct admin, FCO and Cross-Whitehall programme funding and overheads as at 2016-17 (the most recent data available, as 2017-18 is still being finalised). They do not include new and additional funding the FCO has secured for EU Exit and Global Britain activities for 2017-2018 and 2018-2019.

Department for International Development

West Bank: Demolition

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the humanitarian effects of recent trends in the number of demolitions and evictions in the West Bank.

Alistair Burt: Demolitions of Palestinian homes and buildings, and evictions of the residents, cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians, are harmful to the peace process and, in most circumstances, are contrary to international humanitarian law. According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian affairs, 97 structures were demolished or seized in the West Bank in the first quarter of 2018 (January-March), including homes and livelihood structures. The humanitarian effects include impact to children’s education, displacement, psychological distress and damage of livelihoods. The UK continues to make clear to the Israeli authorities our serious concerns over the demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes.

Department for International Development: Vacancies

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the average time taken was to fill vacancies for (a) Administrative Assistant/Administrative Officer, (b) Executive Officer, (c) Senior Executive Officer/Higher Executive Officer, (d) Grades six and seven civil servants and (e) Senior Civil Service grade positions in her Department in each of the last five financial years.

Alistair Burt: DFID does not hold this information. DFID follows Civil Service Recruitment principles and targets a maximum of 8 weeks for cross government staff to join and 12 weeks for staff joining new to the Civil Service. The time frame is dependent on the individual's notice period required, security and medical clearance and any other relevant checks to confirm employment.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what guarantees her Department sought from the Saudi government on (a) humanitarian access to Yemen and (b) ending Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen, in advance of signing the £100 million humanitarian aid deal announced on 7 March 2018.

Alistair Burt: The UK is a critical friend of Saudi Arabia and our strong relationship means we are able to raise difficult issues more effectively. We have led the call for unhindered humanitarian and commercial access into Yemen, including through the UK-coordinated Security Council Statement of 15 March, the Secretary of State’s visit to Riyadh in December and lobbying from the Prime Minister. Most recently, during the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to London in early March, Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its commitment to work together with the UK to strengthen the UN’s mechanism for inspecting ships so that all Yemeni ports can remain fully open to commercial and humanitarian supplies. During this visit, we also agreed with the Saudi Fund for Development that we would contribute £50 million each to support development in East Africa – the ‘£100 million humanitarian aid deal’ referred to in the question.The UK has been clear that there is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen and we have continuously lobbied all sides to urgently de-escalate the fighting and find a comprehensive political solution. We also regularly press, including at senior levels, the need for the Saudi-led Coalition to conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law.

Humanitarian Aid

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to report to the Platform on Action Commitments and Transformation set up at the World Humanitarian Summit 2016.

Alistair Burt: The UK government has recently submitted its second World Humanitarian Summit self-report, through the Platform for Action, Commitment and Transformation. This report documents progress made by the UK in 2018 to deliver on commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. My department will prioritise getting the humanitarian system to work better, working in concert with other major donors and agencies.

Middle East: Internally Displaced People

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether (a) the UN and (b) its agencies have requested any increases in UK humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Syria or neighbouring states in 2018 to date.

Alistair Burt: The UN has been lobbying the international community to increase their humanitarian assistance, ahead of the ‘Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region’ Conference in Brussels on 24-25 April. The UK made the third largest pledge at the conference, committing £450 million for 2018 and £300 million for 2019. This will help to alleviate the extreme suffering in Syria and provide vital support in neighbouring countries, including for internally displaced people and refugees.

Department for Education

Teachers: Pay

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to make changes to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document to permit salary sacrifice for the purchase of a car.

Nick Gibb: There is a statutory process for revising the pay and conditions of teachers. Any change must first be referred by the Secretary of State to the independent School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB). The demands on the STRB’s time and resources mean that the Government has to make decisions on prioritising the issues it refers. The Government is committed to making the teaching profession an attractive and competitive career but is not currently considering proposing an extension to the current salary sacrifice schemes for teachers to cover cars. Academies and free schools are not required to follow the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document and could choose to offer their teachers access to car schemes as part of salary sacrifice arrangements should they wish to do so.

Teachers: Qualifications

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote to people holding (a) Early Years Teacher Status and (b) Early Years Professional Status, the financial support made available by his Department for Qualified Teacher Status courses.

Nadhim Zahawi: Initial teacher training leading to Early Years Teacher Status (previously Early Years Professional Status) is designed for those who wish to specialise in early childhood development and lead education and care for children from birth to five years. For those who wish to work with primary age children the most common route to becoming a school teacher is to undertake initial teacher training leading to Qualified Teacher Status. Information about all the initial teacher training routes and funding is available on the ‘Get into Teaching’ website at: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/.

Children in Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to incentivise local authorities to improve levels of participation by vulnerable children in decision-making on their care.

Nadhim Zahawi: The statutory framework around care planning makes clear that local authorities (LAs) should take into account a child’s wishes before making decisions affecting them and their care. This is set out in section 22 of the Children Act 1989. In addition, the corporate parenting principles, introduced through the Children and Social Work Act 2017, specifically require LAs to encourage children and young people to express their views, wishes and feelings; and that the LA acts upon these. The accompanying statutory guidance, published in February 2018, highlights the importance of understanding and acting on the views of all looked-after children, including those with disabilities, special educational needs and other barriers to participation. The guidance also sets out a number of examples of how LAs can involve children, including vulnerable children, in decision-making on their care. Ofsted’s framework for the inspection of LA children’s services considers the application of the corporate parenting principles when determining what judgement to award local authorities. The corporate parenting principles guidance can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-corporate-parenting-principles-to-looked-after-children-and-care-leavers.

*No heading*

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of referrals to children’s social care services resulted in (a) no further action and (b) a child being assessed not to be in need for children aged (i) 0-15 and (ii) 16-17 years old in Rotherham in 2017-18.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

*No heading*

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were referred to children’s social care services in Rotherham in 2017-18; and how many of those referrals resulted in (a) no further action and (b) a child being assessed but found not to be in need for children aged (i) 0-15 and (ii) 16-17 years old in Rotherham in the year ending 31 March 2017.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Services: Rotherham

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of referrals to children’s social care services in Rotherham resulted in no further action in each year between (a) 2009-10 and (b) 2016-17 for children aged (i) 0-15 and (ii) 16-17 years old.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Education: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of his Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Teachers: Employment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support newly registered teachers to find employment.

Nick Gibb: Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers are required to demonstrate that their trainees go on to secure employment; employment rates are one of the outcome measures that Ofsted uses to grade ITT providers. The latest data shows that 95% of postgraduate trainee teachers who were awarded Qualified Teacher Status were employed in a teaching post within six months of qualifying.[1] The Department is developing a free national digital service for schools to publish teacher vacancies and for teachers to search for them. This new service will assist newly registered teachers to find posts. [1]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/632451/SFR38_2017_Text.pdf

STEM Subjects: Free Schools

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of pupils at free schools studied STEM subjects in each of last three years; what steps he is taking to encourage free schools to promote the study of STEM subjects in advance of the roll-out of T levels; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Adoption: Self-employed

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2018 to Question 136096 on Self-employed: Adoption, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on statutory adoption leave for the self-employed of the request by adoption agencies that adoptive parents spend a minimum of six months at home when a child is first placed.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 01 May 2018



Adoption agencies will have a range of policies about how long they would ask adoptive parents to stay at home once a child is placed with them. We work closely with the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies and the Association of Directors of Children's Services when developing policy on adoption. As previously stated, where adopters do not qualify for family related statutory pay because they are self-employed, local authorities may make a payment equivalent to Maternity Allowance. This is at the discretion of the local authority and is means-tested.

Educational Psychology

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children who received help from schools-based educational psychologists in each of the last three years for which data is available.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding his Department provided for schools-based educational psychologists in each of the last three years for which data is available.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 01 May 2018



The information requested is not held centrally.

Education Fellowship Trust

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education,  pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2018 to Question 136599 on Education Fellowship Trust (TEFT), if he will list the (a) 10 TEFT schools for which new trusts have been identified but which have not yet been transferred and (b) two TEFT schools for which no new trust has been identified.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 01 May 2018



The department has confirmed that Rushden Community College will join Tove Learning Trust; Desborough College will form a Single Academy Trust, Desborough College Academy Trust, until joining or forming a multi-academy trust within two years. Blackthorn Primary School and Thorplands Primary School will join the Northampton Primary Academy Trust. Olympic Primary School, Ruskin Junior School and Warwick Academy will join Lion Academy Trust. Risdene Academy and Windmill Primary School will join Manor Learning Trust. The Clarendon Academy will join Acorn Learning Trust. The Regional Schools Commissioners are working to confirm preferred new trusts as soon as possible for the remaining two schools, Pembroke Park Primary in Wiltshire, and Wrenn Academy in Northamptonshire.

Social Mobility Commission: Public Appointments

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the panel sift for the appointment of a new Chair of the Social Mobility Commission took place on 12 April as advertised.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 01 May 2018



Progress on appointing a new Chair and Commissioners is running to schedule as per the procedures set out in the Governance Code for Public Appointments. My fellow ministers and I look forward to working with the successful candidate to improve social mobility.

Social Mobility Commission: Public Appointments

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether final interviews for the appointment of a new Chair of the Social Mobility Commission are still planned for 3 May.

Nadhim Zahawi: Holding answer received on 01 May 2018



Progress on appointing a new Chair and Commissioners is running to schedule as per the procedures set out in the Governance Code for Public Appointments. My fellow ministers and I look forward to working with the successful candidate to improve social mobility.

STEM Subjects: Females

Danielle Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of girls participating in core STEM subjects after the age of 16.

Anne Milton: In England, the department have taken focussed action to increase the take-up of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects after the age of 16. Whilst we have seen the number of girls taking STEM A levels increase by 18 per cent since 2010, there is still more to do. That is why we are investing in programmes to encourage take up in STEM-related subjects and courses, including announcing substantial spending commitments in the Autumn Budget 2017 on mathematics, digital skills and technical education. For example: to increase the take-up of mathematics (such as a new post-16 mathematics premium), computing and physics;to support better teaching of mathematics, science and computing in schools, including a new £84 million programme to improve computing teaching, with a particular focus on girls. We are also improving STEM careers advice in schools in the recently published ‘Careers strategy: making the most of everyone’s skills and talents’. For example, we support wider government initiatives such as the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s STEM Ambassador programme. The STEM Ambassador programme represents a network of over 30,000 volunteers from scientific research and business who visit schools, Further Education colleges and youth or science clubs, encouraging participation in STEM and providing real-life examples of careers in STEM. 42 per cent of the ambassadors are women, providing visible role models for girls wishing to pursue STEM. We are taking action to address gender disparities in the take up of STEM-related apprenticeships through a range of activities. These include taking part in the Year of Engineering 2018 and use of the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network. We have also made it easier for part-time workers to undertake apprenticeships, such as those with caring responsibilities and lone parents.

Teachers: Older Workers

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers over the age of 60 were employed in schools in each year in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the full time equivalent number of teachers over the age of 60 in service in state funded schools in the Coventry local authority area, West Midlands region and England in November 2010 to November 2016. November 2017 figures will become available at the end of June 2018 and will be available via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-workforce.  Teachers[1],[2] CoventryWest MidlandsEngland2010701,07010,5802011901,02010,84020121101,12010,9902013801,10011,5002014701,08010,9002015701,02010,46020168097010,160Source: School Workforce Census  [1] Figures for England contain an adjustment for schools that did not provide a return, but this adjustment is not available at local authority or regional level.[2] Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 teachers.

Schools: West Midlands

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to close the deprivation attainment gap in (a) Coventry and (b) the West Midlands.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much (a) revenue and (b) capital funding was provided to each pupil in state (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in cash terms each year since 2005-06.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools: Finance

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many local authorities have submitted a disapplication notice to move more than 0.5 per cent of their schools block funding in line with paragraph 117 of the Schools Revenue Funding 2018 to 2019 Operational Guide published by his Department.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Studio Schools: Costs

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the site acquisition and construction costs of (a) Hyndburn Studio School, (b) Hull Studio School, (c) The Studio School Luton, (d) Inspire Enterprise Academy, (e) The Midland Studio College Nuneaton, (f) New Campus Basildon Studio School, (g) Kajans Hospitality and Catering Studio College, (h) Create Studio and (i) The Future Tech Studio.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's press release, Sentences for animal cruelty to increase tenfold to five years, published on 30 September 2017, what progress his Department has made on bringing forward legislative proposals to increase sentences for animal cruelty in the agriculture industry.

George Eustice: Since the press release in September, the Government published the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill in December 2017 for consultation which closed on 31 January. We are analysing the 9,000 responses and will respond shortly.

Incinerators

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 20 April 2018 to Question 135442 on Air Pollution, what steps he has taken to ensure that (a) the public and (b) people living in close proximity to waste incinerator sites have adequate information on the dispersal of  emissions of (i) PM 0.1, (ii) PM 1, (iii) PM 2.5 and (iv) PM10 from waste incinerator sites.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Documents which explain how the Environment Agency makes its permitting decisions (including the results of air dispersion modelling for PM10 and PM2.5, which will include PM1 and PM0.1) are available on the public register for all incinerators. The public register is available online at:https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/index.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of his Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.

George Eustice: There were 11 invitations to tender published between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2018 that received no bidders.

Livestock: Exports

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to restrict the export of live animals for slaughter.

George Eustice: The Government has always been clear that it would prefer animals to be slaughtered close to the point of production. Our manifesto made it clear that we would take early steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter once we leave the EU. We have recently launched a call for evidence on the subject.

Animal Welfare: Disqualification Orders

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many disqualification orders issued under section 34 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 have been breached in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: The number of offenders found guilty of breaches of animal disqualification orders in England and Wales from 2012 to 2016 can be viewed in the table below. Court proceedings data for 2017 is planned for publication in May 2018. Offenders found guilty at all courts of breaches of animal disqualification orders (1), England and Wales, 2012 to 2016 (2)(3)20122013201420152016 73102816854 (1) An offence under S34(9) Animal Welfare Act 2006(2) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.(3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when this data is used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Food Poverty

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to tackle food poverty.

George Eustice: The Government is committed to making a lasting difference to long-term outcomes for poor and disadvantaged families and children. We believe that work offers the best opportunity for people to get out of poverty and to become self-reliant. This is why the Government is undertaking the most ambitious reform to the welfare system in decades to support people to find and stay in work. Defra is taking action to support the redistribution of unsold edible and nutritious surplus stock food from businesses to individuals in need. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), supported by Defra, launched the Courtauld Commitment 2025 in March 2016. Business signatories including leading retailers, manufacturers and food redistribution organisations have agreed an ambition to work collaboratively with WRAP to double the amount of surplus food they redistribute by 2020 against a 2015 baseline of 15,000 tonnes. At the end of last year, the Government and WRAP announced a new £500,000 fund for charities who redistribute surplus food from food businesses to those in need.

Dogs: Licensing

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to replicate the Northern Ireland dog licencing system in England and Wales.

George Eustice: Since April 2016 every dog in Great Britain is required to be microchipped with the keeper’s details. Over 90% of dog owners are compliant with the microchipping requirement which allows dogs to be traced back to their keeper and if the dog strays allows dog and keeper to be reunited quickly. There are no plans to reintroduce the dog licence in England.

Animal Welfare: Voluntary Organisations

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a registration and licensing system for animal sanctuaries and re-homing activities.

George Eustice: In reviewing the licensing systems for dog breeding, pet sales and other animal activities in England we considered extending the licensing requirement to animal sanctuaries and re-homing centres. We were not provided with evidence that such operations need to be regulated in the same way. We support the work of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes who have developed sector guidance for dog and cat rescue and rehoming centres which we endorse.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Mobile Phones

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what apps his Department has approved for use of mobile phones issued by his Department.

George Eustice: In core Defra applications are approved and accessed through a secure, managed application catalogue. In addition, the default applications supplied on the mobile phone are approved and managed using the Department’s security policies. These policies are closely aligned with National Cyber Security Centre guidance. Providing details of specific applications would be inappropriate due to national security concerns and the risk of facilitating acts against official systems by hostile actors.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of Basic Payment Scheme payments have been delayed by (a) one, (b) two and (c) three  and (d) more than three months in each of the last eight years.

George Eustice: The Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) was introduced in 2015. The window for making payments under BPS runs between 1 December and 30 June. Payments can be made outside of the payment window for a number of reasons including the resolution of legal proceedings, such as probate. The table shows number of payments made outside of the payment window since 2015. The payment window for BPS 2017 runs until 30 June 2018. 2015 Scheme YearBPS 2016 Scheme YearDateVolumeDateVolumeWithin window (Dec 2016-June 2016)85,237Within window (Dec 2017-June 2017)85,2311 month (July 2016)7741 month (July 2017)1232 months (August 2016)4312 months (August 2017)743 months (September 2016)2903 months (September 2017)57>3 months (Post Sep-2016)437>3 months (Post-Sep 2017)204Total87,16985,231

Dogs: Smuggling

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer question 115400, on Dogs: Smuggling, how many illegally imported puppies have been seized at Dover and Folkestone ports by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and placed into quarantine via the Puppy Pilot in the last six months.

George Eustice: From 1 October 2017 to 31 March 2018, 143 puppies were seized at Dover and Folkestone and placed into quarantine under the Puppy Pilot.

Non-commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish its post implementation review of the Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order 2011.

George Eustice: The Post Implementation Review (PIR) will evaluate the effectiveness of the Non-Commercial Movement of Pet Animals Order. A public consultation was conducted and responses published in June 2017. We intend to publish the PIR report before summer recess.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Nationality: Northern Ireland

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 52 of the Joint report from the negotiators of the European Union and the United Kingdom Government on progress during phase 1 of negotiations under Article 50 TEU on the United Kingdom's orderly withdrawal from the European Union, whether the commitment made in that paragraph includes all EU rights normally associated with residents in a Member State; and if he will list those rights.

Mr Robin Walker: The UK and the EU acknowledge that the Belfast (‘Good Friday’) Agreement recognises the birth right of all the people of Northern Ireland to choose to be Irish or British or both and be accepted as such. They also recognise that the people of Northern Ireland who are Irish citizens will continue to enjoy rights as EU citizens, including where they reside in Northern Ireland. The UK and the EU therefore agree that the Withdrawal Agreement should respect and be without prejudice to the rights, opportunities and identity that come with European Union citizenship for such people. The UK has been clear that we are committed to turning all of the commitments made under the Joint Report into legally binding text - that includes those on citizenship rights for the people of Northern Ireland under the terms of the Belfast Agreement.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much time he spent (a) in Northern Ireland and (b) visiting the border area on 23 April 2018; and if he will make a statement.

Suella Braverman: The Secretary of State undertook a visit to Northern Ireland on 23 April to meet some of the key stakeholders involved in the process of our EU exit. He stayed overnight in Northern Ireland and as part of his visit spent some time at the border with Peter Sheridan, the Chief Executive of Co-operation Ireland.

Customs Unions

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) GDP, (b) the balance of trade, (c) small business growth and (d) large business growth of the Government's policy on leaving the EU Customs Union.

Suella Braverman: The Government has been clear that the UK will leave the EU Customs Union when it leaves the EU. As set out in our future partnership paper, in assessing the options for the UK's future customs relationship with the EU, we will be guided by three strategic objectives: ensuring UK-EU trade is as frictionless as possible; avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland; establishing an independent international trade policy. The future partnership paper set out two possible options to meet these objectives. The Government is undertaking a wide range of continuing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. Our overall programme of work is comprehensive, thorough and is continuously updated. We have been clear the Government will not provide an ongoing commentary on internal analytical work that is being carried out within Government.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 123531 on Attorney General: procurement, if he will list those contracts including the supplier name and value of those contracts.

Robert Buckland: Holding answer received on 06 March 2018






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 23 March 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has the following contracts with the government’s strategic suppliers: SupplierContractEstimated Value*  £BT PlcMultiple landline phones, alarms and broadband service agreements143,500CapitaContingent Labour ONE Call-Off136,900CGIPayroll Call-Off1,300,500 Finance and Resource Management System Call-Off200,000 Managed ICT Services contract; and300,000,000 Applications Support and Data Hosting Call-Off19,000,000MicrosoftMultiple licencing agreements.172,000OracleMultiple licencing agreements470,000VodafoneVideoconferencing service Call-Off700,000 * The Estimated Value is given as the value for the contract Term where the department has signed a Call-Off Contract and the annual spend to 31 January 2018 where the department has renewable licensing arrangements.   For the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the contracts are: Supplier2016/17BT plc£15,897Capita£704,697Vodafone£75,905 To identify overall contract values for the Government Legal Department (GLD), Attorney General Office (AGO) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) would require the identification and examination of all awards made to the Strategic Suppliers (as defined by the Crown Commercial Services) and this cannot be achieved without incurring disproportionate cost. However, our payments to Strategic Suppliers, for 2016-17 is set out below: Strategic Supplier Expenditure 2016-17 GLDExpenditure 2016-17 AGOExpenditure 2016-17 HMCPSIAmey £335,965 BT Plc£1,699£2,159£1,308Capgemini£88,914  Capita£424,655 £6,369,832 £847* Fujitsu£561,131  Microsoft£62,178  Mitie£186,854  Oracle£34,126  Vodafone£226,794£43,763£8,779 * The payment for this amount piggy backed on the contract that SFO had with Capita.

Robert Buckland: Holding answer received on 06 March 2018



The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has the following contracts with the government’s strategic suppliers: SupplierContractEstimated Value*  £BT PlcMultiple landline phones, alarms and broadband service agreements143,500CapitaContingent Labour ONE Call-Off136,900CGIPayroll Call-Off1,300,500 Finance and Resource Management System Call-Off200,000 Managed ICT Services contract; and300,000,000 Applications Support and Data Hosting Call-Off19,000,000MicrosoftMultiple licencing agreements.172,000OracleMultiple licencing agreements470,000VodafoneVideoconferencing service Call-Off700,000 * The Estimated Value is given as the value for the contract Term where the department has signed a Call-Off Contract and the annual spend to 31 January 2018 where the department has renewable licensing arrangements.   For the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), the contracts are: Supplier2016/17BT plc£15,897Capita£704,697Vodafone£75,905 To identify overall contract values for the Government Legal Department (GLD), Attorney General Office (AGO) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) would require the identification and examination of all awards made to the Strategic Suppliers (as defined by the Crown Commercial Services) and this cannot be achieved without incurring disproportionate cost. However, our payments to Strategic Suppliers, for 2016-17 is set out below: Strategic Supplier Expenditure 2016-17 GLDExpenditure 2016-17 AGOExpenditure 2016-17 HMCPSIAmey £335,965 BT Plc£1,699£2,159£1,308Capgemini£88,914  Capita£424,655 £6,369,832 £847* Fujitsu£561,131  Microsoft£62,178  Mitie£186,854  Oracle£34,126  Vodafone£226,794£43,763£8,779 * The payment for this amount piggy backed on the contract that SFO had with Capita.

Attorney General: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2018 to Question 123531, on Attorney General: Procurement, if he will list (a) the suppliers of and (b) the purpose of the (i) the Government Legal Department's contracts with the eight strategic suppliers (ii) the CPS's six contracts with strategic suppliers, (iii) the Serious Fraud Office's three contracts with strategic suppliers and (iv) Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate's contracts with which two strategic suppliers.

Robert Buckland: Holding answer received on 27 April 2018



Pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2018 to Question 123531, the table below summarises the purpose of the six contracts between the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and government strategic suppliers. SupplierPurpose of contract CapitaSupply of interim and temporary staff let via a pan government framework.CGI(1) ICT Applications, Hosting and Management let via a pan government framework. (2) Managed payroll services let via a pan government framework. (3) Oracle finance system managed service let via a pan government framework. (4) Fully managed ICT services including; applications, hosting and management, system integration and management, service desk and end user computing.VodafoneNational contract let via the Cabinet Office G-Cloud framework for managed video conferencing services. In addition, the CPS has no major contracts but multiple agreements with the following government strategic suppliers: BT –for land line phones, alarm systems and business broadband lines.Microsoft - for MS office products, server and networking applications and other software products.Oracle - for server and networking applications and other software products. The table below summarises the purpose of the contracts between the Government Legal Department (GLD) and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) and government strategic suppliers. It is the policy to engage with suppliers using central government frameworks and call off arrangements. SupplierGLD – purpose of contractHMCPSI - purpose of contractBT plcProvision of phone services for business continuity (disaster recovery).Provision of mobile connectivity services and video conferencing at the York officeCap GeminiProvision of a supplier invoice receipt and scanning service; provision of a cloud-based invoice approval and electronic document management system; and secure destruction of paper documents. CapitaPredominately temporary staff, mainly lawyers, and training courses. FujitsuProvision of e-disclosure services to support legal cases. MicrosoftSoftware licences and support for Microsoft products, for example, Windows and Office Suites. MitieOffice cleaning services. OracleSoftware licences and support. VodafoneProvision of mobile phone and connectivity services.Provision of mobile phone and connectivity services. The table below summarises the purpose of the contracts between the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and government strategic suppliers.SupplierPurpose of contractAmeyFacilities managementBTNetwork linesCapitaIT services The table below summarises the purpose of the contracts between the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and government strategic suppliers.SupplierPurpose of contractBT PLCBroadband lines at Southwark Crown CourtCapitaIT support contractVodafonenetwork services contract

Attorney General: Mobile Phones

Jon Trickett: To ask the Attorney General, what apps his Department has approved for use on mobile phones issued by his Department.

Robert Buckland: Due to national security concerns it would be inappropriate to publicly supply a list of applications approved for use on mobile phones issued by the Attorney General’s Office, as to do so facilitates attacks against official systems by hostile actors.

Wales Office

*No heading*

David Linden: What recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on building a new prison in South Wales.

Stuart Andrew: Around 20 potential sites across South Wales were put forward by the Welsh Government after they approached the Ministry of Justice. The site in Port Talbot was ranked as the number one site by the Welsh Government as the most suitable location for a prison in South Wales.

Ministry of Justice

Feltham Young Offender Institution

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the number of hours spent in education, purposeful activity and association by inmates of HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: I am committed to improving the education offer and tailoring it to the individual needs of young people. This will include ensuring that there is sufficient time in the day for access to vocational activities, sports, and health and behavioural interventions as well as academic education. We are working with education providers and YOI sites to improve flexibility of provision within the 30 hour week, to drive delivery of a wide range of activities alongside traditional classroom based learning.Across both sites at Feltham, there are more than 100 prison officers currently in training – with the first new officers beginning to arrive on the landings this month. This will help to provide better access to education and get young people engaged in meaningful activities which will help them to turn away from crime.

Feltham Young Offender Institution

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of incidents where Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint techniques were deployed in response to (a) prisoner on staff, (b) prisoner on prisoner and (c) multi-perpetrator fights at HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The safety and welfare of young people held in custody is one of the highest priorities for the Youth Custody Service (YCS). The YCS has rolled out the Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) technique for staff to use on young people in all Young Offender Institutes and Secure Training Centres – including Her Majesty’s Young Offender Institute (HMYOI) Feltham. MMPR has been specifically designed to reduce the use of physical restraint on young people by focusing on de-escalation techniques. It is only to be used as a last resort when there are no other suitable interventions available. See the data below relating to the use if the (MMPR) technique for HMYOI Feltham.  Oct-16Nov-16Dec-16Jan-17Feb-17Mar-17Total use of MMPR incidents8310362516677- Preventing damage to property202024- Preventing an escape/abscond000000- Good Order and Security451311- Preventing harm to self1012761317- Prevent harm to third party678551425055- Incitement011000  Notes:HMYOI Feltham only started using the technique of Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) in October 2016, so the data below only relates to data available from this until March 2017. This period is the most up to date published data available;the data collected by HMYOI Feltham is not classified in terms of ‘who the disputes were between’ – but the reason for why the MMPR was use;this data is taken from monthly case level returns on the use of MMPR submitted to the Youth Justice Board (YJB) by HMYOI Feltham;this data includes some 18 year olds who remain in the under 18 secure estate.data received from HMYOI Feltham through monthly returns is validated before publication by an annual reconciliation process;these figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.

Feltham Young Offender Institution

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to reduce incidences of violence in HM Feltham Young Offenders Institution.

Dr Phillip Lee: Keeping all children and young people in custody safe is a key priority for the Youth Custody Service. We are taking active steps to address and reduce the levels of violence for all those who live and work within the Youth Estate, including Feltham. A number of initiatives have recently been implemented to tackle violence and drive performance improvements within the Youth Estate. A holistic style approach to managing behaviour within the youth estate has led to the implementation of Minimising and Managing Physical Restraint (MMPR) in all under-18 Young Offender Institutions (YOI) and Secure Training Centres. In public sector Young Offender Institutions, local psychological teams have been put in place to carry out assessments of young people involved in multiple perpetrator/serious assaults. A new structured approach to the delivery of interventions for young people has been introduced to ensure that interventions delivered are either accredited or formally approved. Restorative justice practises have also been rolled out. At Feltham specifically, we have around 100 new officers currently in training - with the first officers on the landings in April - helping to get to the root causes of violence and improve safety.In addition, the first Enhanced Support Unit within the Youth Estate opened at Feltham in November 2017 to support and manage young people who are deemed to have exceptionally complex needs and high-risk behaviours.

Young Offenders: Solitary Confinement

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the (a) number of instances of, (b) average length of time and (c) average number of hours per day people aged 18 were held in solitary confinement in the youth secure estate in (i) England and (ii) Wales since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: The safety and welfare of young people held in custody is one of our highest priorities and is fundamental to the proper functioning of our justice system. We are committed to reforming youth custody so that it is safer for both young people and staff and better equipped to help young people turn their lives around. There are some occasions, when young people in custody are putting themselves or others at risk, during which segregation can be used as a last resort for limited periods of time when no other form of intervention is suitable. Any decision to remove a young person from association is subject to regular review and a range of safeguarding measures are in place to ensure appropriate oversight of their care. There are careful limits placed on the length of time for which young people can be removed from association without review of the decision to remove.

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of his Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Prison Officers: Training

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how often training is provided to prison officers by HM Prison Service.

Rory Stewart: Newly recruited Prison Officers receive a 12 week Prison Officer Entry Level Training (POELT) course. This provides a foundation level of training in all core skill areas including interpersonal skills, mental health awareness, equality, violence reduction and safer custody, alongside the more traditional security awareness and practical skills needed to be a prison officer. Additional training is available throughout the year for Officers once they have completed their POELT training as part of their continued professional development and is in line with their personal development plans which are agreed with managers every year. Training is available in Offender Management, Incident Management, Intelligence and Security. Officers are able to access additional face to face training and e-learning via Civil Service Learning (CSL) and the Justice Academy.

Legal Aid Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2018 to Question 136378, whether it is planned to review the legal aid means test threshold as part of the post-implementation review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Lucy Frazer: The government evaluates the civil and criminal means tests thresholds on an ongoing basis. The post-implementation review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012, will assess the impact of the relevant changes to the legal aid means test that were implemented as part of the reforms and inform wider consideration on the future of legal support in the justice system.

Prisoners: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse has been of women serving prison sentences for non-violent crimes since 1 January 2018.

Dr Phillip Lee: At 31 March 2017, there were 2,271 sentenced females in the prison population for non-violent crimes (everything but violence against the person) and an additional 445 on remand. This information is publicly available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2017. Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), does not calculate separately the average cost of prisoners by any type of offence. However, HMPPS routinely publishes average costs per prisoner, costs per prison place and overall prison unit costs for each private and public sector prison in England and Wales, including all categories of the women’s estate. This information is produced on an annual basis and is published after the end of each financial year. The most recent published figures, for financial year 2016-17, can be accessed on the www.gov.uk website from the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-performance-statistics-2016-to-2017. Prison unit costs can be found within the Excel document Costs per prison place and cost per prisoner by individual prison establishment in the ‘Cost by Establishment’ tab. The courts have a range of sentences at their disposal including community sentences, suspended sentences, fines and custodial sentences. Custodial sentences are reserved for the most serious offences. Women diverted from custody and into community sentences, also have an associated cost to the taxpayer.

Offenders: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for the publication of his Department's female offender strategy.

Dr Phillip Lee: We are committed to doing all we can to address the issues around female offending so we can better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation. Considering how we can best address the needs of female offenders, to improve outcomes for them, their families and their communities, is a complex issue that we want to get right. We are working hard to develop the Female Offender Strategy and we will publish in due course.

Prisoners: Childbirth

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the procedure is for recording (a) births and (b) stillbirths in women's prisons.

Dr Phillip Lee: It is a requirement for mothers (or fathers) to register births (and still births) within 42 days and prison staff will arrange for registrars to come into the establishment to do this where necessary.While there is no requirement for prisons to keep a central record of women who give birth (or suffer a still birth) whilst in prison, the issues pertinent to prisoners, their management and care will be noted on their individual case record. This will include details of whether the woman is pregnant and the outcome of that pregnancy, should it occur whilst they are in custody.We currently do not record the number of women who give birth in prisons centrally but consideration will be given on recording this information locally on prison systems.

Independent Monitoring Boards

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department records the (a) number of members, (b) number of vacancies or (c) quorum of each Independent Monitoring Board.

Rory Stewart: As of 25 April 2018, there were 1,394 IMB members in post and 691 vacancies. The quorum for each Board meeting should be no fewer than three, as set out in Prison Rule 1999 76(2), Young Offender Institution Rule 2000 80(2) and Detention Centre Rule 2001 60(2).

Chelmsford Prison

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many members of staff have resigned from HMP Chelmsford since 1 January 2018.

Rory Stewart: The data requested is not currently available as the latest set of HMPPS workforce statistics covers the period up to 31 December 2017. The next set of data for the period to 31 March 2018 is due to be published in the HMPPS Quarterly Workforce Statistics Bulletin on 17 May 2018.

Chelmsford Prison

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoner on prisoner assaults have occurred at HMP Chelmsford since 1 January 2018.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many assaults on staff have occurred at HMP Chelmsford since 1 January 2018.

Rory Stewart: Data about assaults by prisoners, including those on staff and on other prisoners, is published in the quarterly Safety in Custody statistics. The figures for January to March 2018 are scheduled to be published on 26 July. The most recent statistics were published on 26 April and cover assaults to December 2017. Figures for individual prisons can be found in the data tool: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/702356/assaults-data-tool.xlsx. We are taking urgent action to make prisons safer, and assaults on our hardworking staff will never be tolerated. We are ensuring that prison officers have the tools they need to do their jobs by rolling out body worn cameras, 'police-style' handcuffs and restraints, and trialling PAVA incapacitant spray.

Ministry of Justice: Market Research

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on social research or communications and marketing research in each year since 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: We do not hold the information requested on how much the Ministry of Justice has spent on social research since from 2010 to 2017 or on communications and marketing research from 2010-2013. Between April 2014 and March 2017, the department spent £0 on communications and marketing research. Between April 2017 and March 2018, the Department spent £44,160.

Prison Officers: Allowances

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the cost to the public purse has been of expenses for prison officers in each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: We are unable to provide the data requested, as the expenses records that we have are not able to be broken down to the level of grade of staff, therefore it is not possible to identify which expenses were for Prison Officers only.

Ministry of Justice: Agency Workers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2018 to Question 133123, what the average target rate set out in contracts agreed by his Department for agency work was in 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: As stated in the previous PQ (133123) The rates that we pay for agency staff vary due to a range of factors including, but not limited to, location, number of hours, specialism, experience, etc.Some contracts have rate cards which include “Target” and “Maximum” rates per day or per role.Rates can vary due to length of services and application of Agency Worker Rights and other factors which can affect the rates paid such as type of engagement.Average target day rate in 2017 for:Capita - £305.57, Brook Street - £76.74, Hays - £81.94, Redsnapper & Servoca - £138.65

Ministry of Justice: Agency Workers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2018 to Question 133123, what the average maximum rate set out in contracts agreed by his Department for agency work was in 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: As stated in the previous PQ (133123) The rates that we pay for agency staff vary due to a range of factors including, but not limited to, location, number of hours, specialism, experience, etc.Some contracts have rate cards which include “Target” and “Maximum” rates per day or per role.Rates can vary due to length of services and application of Agency Worker Rights and other factors which can affect the rates paid such as type of engagement.Average maximum day rate in 2017 for:Capita - £447.49, Brook Street - £76.74, Hays - £81.94, Redsnapper & Servoca - £138.65

Ministry of Justice: Agency Workers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2018 to Question 133123, what the maximum hourly rate was which was set out in the last five available agency contracts agreed by his Department which contain such a rate.

Dr Phillip Lee: As stated in the previous PQ (133123) The rates that we pay for agency staff vary due to a range of factors including, but not limited to, location, number of hours, specialism, experience, etc.Some contracts have rate cards which include “Target” and “Maximum” rates per day or per role.Rates can vary due to length of services and application of Agency Worker Rights and other factors which can affect the rates paid such as type of engagement.The maximum hourly rate set out in the agency contracts agreed in 2017 was:Capita - Rates can vary for different role types between £19.34 and £221.06, Brook Street - £19.25, Hays - £15.30, Redsnapper & Servoca - £23.85

Crime: Victims

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice of 24 April 2018, Official Report, column 717, on Victims Law when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals for a Victim's Law.

Dr Phillip Lee: Supporting victims of crime is a priority for the Government and we have made a commitment to publish a victims strategy by Summer 2018. As I said on 24 April, as part of the strategy, we are considering both legislative and non-legislative measures. If appropriate, we will bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.

Chelmsford Prison

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many members of staff resigned from HMP Chelmsford in 2017.

Rory Stewart: There were 25 individuals who resigned from HMP Chelmsford in the year ending 31 December 2017. In 2016 we pledged to recruit 2,500 more prison officers. We recently announced that we have reached this target seven months ahead of schedule, and frontline staffing numbers are now at their highest for five years. We continue to work closely with individual prison governors, including HMP Chelmsford, to address local staff retention issues. Across the estate we have also given governors more freedom to innovate and make the best decisions for their prisons.

Prison and Probation Service: Expenditure

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total real terms change in his Department's expenditure on HM Prison and Probation Service was between (a) 2017-18 to 2018-19 and (b) 2010-11 to 1018-19.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the real terms change in his Department's expenditure on the Youth Justice Board was between (a) 2017-18 and 2018-19 and (b) 2010-11 and 1018-19.

Dr Phillip Lee: Final expenditure figures for the period 2017-2018 and full expenditure figures for 2018-2019 are not yet available.

Legal Aid Scheme: Immigration

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many immigration law legal aid providers there were in each region in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The number of offices holding a legal aid contract in the immigration category according to which Legal Aid Agency region they fell under is shown below. The Lord Chancellor has confirmed that we are conducting an evidence-based review which will examine the impact of the changes made by LASPO including those on providers.LAA Regional Office2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/152015/162016/172017/182018/ 19Birmingham212723474134313027Brighton455666554Bristol5561312111188Cambridge1111916159766Cardiff777161514131211Leeds152220464035343330Liverpool222998775London136141132178167151136125102Manchester141715373527222016Newcastle8108151513121110Nottingham997201811886Reading101210101011876Grand Total 242  268  244  413  383  330  294  272  231

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many of his Department's invitations to tender have received no bidders in the last two years.

Oliver Dowden: Every tender published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) by the Cabinet Office during the period from April 2016 to March 2018 received bids.

Capita: Lincolnshire

Karen Lee: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which contracts Capita administers in (a) Lincoln constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Oliver Dowden: Capita operates a number of national contracts that may provide services to individuals or cover areas in Lincolnshire. In addition, there are individual contracts with local contracting authorities. Details of contracts with a value over £10,000 are published on the Contracts Finder website. https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Zero Hours Contracts

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the reasons are for the rise of zero-hours contracts in the UK by 100,000 in 2017 identified in the most recent Office for National Statistics data return.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(PDF Document, 67.08 KB)

House of Commons Commission

Westminster Hall: Cameras

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reason the public were prevented from using single lens reflex cameras in Westminster Hall on 25 April 2018.

Tom Brake: Holding answer received on 01 May 2018



Single lens reflex (SLR) cameras are permitted in Westminster Hall if they are used in line with the regulations governing photography in the Palace. If the advice was given that photographs could be taken on mobile phones but not on SLR cameras this was incorrect. The Visitor Services team and Parliamentary Security Department will reissue briefing instructions to their staff to ensure that the regulations are applied correctly and consistently.Filming and photography in Westminster Hall is for ‘personal’ rather than ‘professional’ use unless agreed in advance. Photography is not permitted in the following circumstances:Tripods, lighting equipment or trailing cables are involvedThe images are for commercial purposesThe images include signage or banners for party political purposesThe images will be used to promote a specific cause or campaign.